


Phyrric Legacy

by Deamon_Hunter



Category: RWBY
Genre: Arc Family - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:11:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7120804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deamon_Hunter/pseuds/Deamon_Hunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaune can't forget. He can deny, curse and beg, but he can never forget the invincible girl. Or stop thinking about what could have been. A dark story about Jaune coping with the loss of his partner. Jaune's family plays a major role in the story as he grieves the loss of Pyrrha. T for early story violence and language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Event

**Author's Note:**

> I have been writing this thing on and off for months haven't had a lot of time. Originally this was intended as a one shot, but as I got more into it it kind of just kept growing. Kinda of late on the Post volume 3 bandwagon here, but I didn't want the story to rot on my computer forever. So here's part 1.
> 
> Also if you want to read a way better Jaune post season 3 story that deals with basically the same stuff (stages of grief etc) go read Denial by College fool (on Fanfiction.net), a fantastic story by an amazing writer who writes better asleep than I do on my best day.
> 
> If you're still here, enjoy the story!

"Pyrrha you can't win! You know how powerful she is!" Jaune said, begging Pyrrha to not do something so stereotypically Pyrrha. He looked into her deep green eyes, denying what he saw there. His heart already knew what she would do but his head screamed to stop her.

Pyrrha hesitated, her gazing glancing between the clock tower and Jaune. Jaune knew that logic wasn't about to reach her He only had a few moments. An idea popped into his head almost immediately the very thought of it was absurd.

"You're the kind of person I wish I came to the dance with" He of course, still hadn't quite wrapped his head around the idea that Pyrrha liked him. That she wanted to be, as Nora would say, together-together. Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl chose him. As the idea fell into place in his head, he decided it was possibly the only way to stop her. He needed to convince her there was something more important than destiny. Destiny could wait, this whole damn thing could wait Pyrrha can't-

The idea that he had formed in his head shattered as Pyrrha brought him into a passionate kiss. He barely registered the fact that her lips were against his for a few moments.

Wait this is the perfect time! A part of his brain said. All he needed to do was hold her, wrap his arms around her, make it last long enough for her to forget about Cinder for only a few moments. He raised his arms and started to reach behind her back.

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha said. For a moment Jaune thought he had succeeded, that she was apologizing for being reckless. He relaxed for a fraction of a second. It was all Pyrrha needed.

A part of Jaune shattered when he felt himself be shoved backwards into a rocket locker. His heart sank even deeper as he looked into her eyes. She was beautiful, even as Jaune could almost see the resignation in her eyes. The fact that she might die obviously clear to her.

"Pyrrha don't do this no!" Jaune begged. He grasped the grates on the front of the locker. His voice was desperate. Pyrrha don't do this! You'll die! Jaune thought as he continued his pleas. Pyrrha's eyes had hardened she had all the resolution she needed to face the monster who had defeated Ozpin.

"I'm sorry Jaune." She whispered so quietly that Jaune wondered if she actually said it. Pyrrha dialed in the coordinates. She looked at Jaune one more time. Her eyes were heavy, full of resolution but also regret. Jaune felt all his strength leave him as unspoken words passed between them. The conflict of love against duty clearly passing between their gazes. Jaune hardly noticed the rocket inside the locker ignite and fire him and the locker skywards. He had failed; he was a failure, it was all he could think.

For Pyrrha, she felt she had betrayed a part of herself. She had wanted to kiss Jaune for so long she had imagined the moment so many times in so many situations. She had thought of kissing him at the dance, after their training sessions after one of their talks. It had never happened. Jaune was, in his own words a lovable idiot. He was dense and couldn't take a hint but he was so much more than that He was strong in ways that you couldn't train, strong where she was weak. In the end she had always believed that one day a hint would get through, something would happen and he would react. It never had.

For a moment Pyrrha grinned, she had finally kissed the man she loved so much. For once she had taken Nora's advice of practicing what she preached. The girl inside her wanted to jump for joy. The Huntress squashed that feeling. There would be a time for that later. If there is a later a voice in her head whispered. Pyrrha turned and ran toward the tower, she was ready she could face the Fall Maiden.

Pyrrha ran into the elevator and willed it to move. The voices kept plaguing her.

" _don't disobey Ozpin, he was the best and he lost_ " the voice said

" _But she'll be weak because of it. I can beat her in that weakened state_." Pyrrha thought back.

" _Do you really think so? You are but one girl Jaune was right, you can't win._ "

"T _his isn't about winning this is about Duty._ "

" _You're not fooling anyone. You're running away. You chose Duty over Love. Worse yet you did it for yourself. You kissed Jaune and now you are going to rip out his heart."_

_"He's stronger than you think."_

_"He begged you not to, you were his partner and you abandoned him."_

_"I was protecting him!"_

_"By locking him in a locker and sending him away? You were protecting yourself."_

_"He would die if he stayed."_

_"So will you._ " the voice said with a finality that shook Pyrrha to the core. She could not think up a fair rebuttal. She heard the ding of the elevator bell. The doors slide open and the battle of her life commenced.

The locker bent and buckled as it slammed into the pavement, Jarring Jaune into an alert state. He turned quickly trying to uncover any way to get himself sent back. He had failed again and this time was worse than the all his other failures combined. He started to kick at the locker door gritting his teeth as it finally gave way with a screech. He didn't know where he was and he couldn't help Pyrrha even if he could find his way back.

But Ruby could.

He scrambled for his scroll and quickly dialed her number. The scroll rang briefly before ruby picked up.

"Jaune!" the voice on the other end said.

"Ruby! It's Pyrrha she's fighting that girl! You have to go help her! She doesn't have a chance!" Jaune begged, his voice cracking.

"Don't worry we'll get Pyrrha! Are you okay?"

Jaune screamed and threw the phone. They didn't understand how serious this was! Pyrrha was going to die! She was getting into a fight with a super-powered criminal who had beaten and probably killed Ozpin. How the hell did she think she had even a sliver of a chance?

"And it's my fault, if I wasn't so weak I could have stopped her or helped her with this fight." Jaune felt the tears flow freely from his face. He was angry at himself, angry at Pyrrha angry and frustrated at the teachers that they hadn't acted sooner. He was Angry at the hellhole Beacon had become but most of him was angry at himself for being so weak, for being a liability that Pyrrha felt she had to send away to stop from dragging her down.

He dropped to the ground on his knees. He felt frustrated and even worse, useless. There was nothing he could do to help his friends, nothing he could do to help his partner, nothing he could do to help his team.

A growl behind him caused him turn, he instinctively drew his sword as the red eyes glowed in the darkness. He grimaced. He couldn't help his friends but he could help the people around here.

"It's a start." He muttered

 _Don't die Pyrrha_. He thought as he charged towards the Grimm.

Pyrrha drove her shield into Cinder. Grinning internally as she saw the woman slam into the ground. She used he semblance to fire the large gears surrounding the ruins of the office at Cinder. Each struck with a satisfying grunt from the Fall Maiden.

It had been a tough battle, Pyrrha had lost her sword and was not pleased about that. It was time for revenge for that and for making her send Jaune away after kissing him. She slammed her arms together, causing the floating gears to crash into each other, with any luck, cinder's aura couldn't withstand it, she would have more broken bones than anyone Pyrhha had ever met. Her thoughts gently drifted towards Jaune again.

She hadn't wanted to send him away but whatever her opinion on Jaune, she knew that to defend the tower, they would need Ruby's uncle and Professor Goodwitch. It would keep Jaune occupied and doing something useful, and it would keep him out of danger, at least relatively speaking.

She smiled when she thought of him. She could already imagine the conversation they would have when she got back.

_"Pyrrha why would you do that! You scared me half to death!"_

_"I'm sorry Jaune."_

_"Never do that to me again!" Jaune would say before getting close._

_"I will make no such promises to my team leader." Pyrrha would respond flirtatiously as she closed the distance between them even further "My boyfriend however…" She would begin before pulling him into another kiss. Deep and passionate, exactly what she hoped there first one would have been._

It would be a little embarrassing, she could imagine Yang teasing her for weeks over it, but it would be worth it. She was sick of dropping hints.

" _I should have just kissed him in the first place._ " She thought, " _Well at least I'll have time to learn from my mistakes_ ".

Her mind snapped back to the present when she heard the creak of gears, mere moments had passed, but Pyrrha felt her heart sink at her carelessness. She pulled her shield up to defend her as a fiery inferno burst from the pile of gears, sending them flying in all directions. One gear struck her shield head on. It sent Pyrrha sprawling. She felt her back slam against something hard. She grunted at the blunt pain. It slowly faded, as too, did the feeling of her aura protecting her.

"No, this is bad. Time to get out of here." She thought briefly.

At this point, a strategic retreat was her best option. Immobilize the enemy for a few moments and then retreat. Pyrrha slowly pushed herself up and crawled over to where her shield had fallen when she lost her grip on it. She quickly stood and prepared to throw her Shield. She noticed Cinder notching an arrow. She didn't have time to dodge. She threw her shield as Cinder released her hold on the arrow.

The next few moments happened in slow motion for Pyrrha. For a moment there was nothing.

Her heart sank.

She heard a crinkling sound, likely the arrow breaking against Akouo. Her heart soared " _Wait for me Jaune, I'll be there soon._ " she thought a faint smiling appearing on her lips. The smile vanished as she felt the arrow pierce her leg

"Agh!" She gasped as her leg buckled. She felt to the ground. Her heart sank once again. " _Please no not now! not now! not now!_ " She thought quickly. This wasn't how she wanted things to end.

She yanked the arrow from her leg and sat up gritting her teeth in pain.

"iI's a shame you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder said walking past her. She knelt and cupped Pyrrha's chin in her hand. Pyrrha looked into those blazing eyes. They were full of negative emotions, rage and hate. They were eyes that would consume the world. "Rest assured I will use this power in ways you could never dream of." Cinder promised, grinning wolfishly. Pyrrha was not shocked, in fact she felt very little at this moment. She felt numb.

She had failed. She had failed herself, she had failed the world, she had failed Ozpin but worst of all she had failed Jaune.

" _I failed him I should have listened._ " She thought, regretting her choice, but more regretting the way she had left things, regretting sending him away without an explanation, without telling him it wasn't his fault.

"Do you believe in Destiny?" She asked.

Cinder stared at her for a few moments before answering. "Yes, I do." She said with a finality that indicated what she would do next.

Pyrrha could only watch as the bow formed. She could do nothing but stared as Cinder notched an arrow and pulled back a drawstring.

She heard the rustle of a cape. Turn Away! She wanted to yell as the fifteen year old girl watched her friend meet her end.

Pyrrha watched the arrow slide from the bow

_"I think you would make a wonderful leader jaune."_

She saw as the arrow head grew nearer

_Any spots left on your team?_

_You deserve to be here as much as the rest of us!_

She saw the feathers graze the side of the bow.

_They had Binoculars!_

_I know I don't deserve it after everything I said, but could you help me? Become a better fighter I mean."_

The Arrowhead vanished into her blind spot

_Pyrrha what should I do?_

_You're Pyrrha Nikos! If you don't get a guy to the dance I'll wear a dress!_

Pyrrha felt the cold steel touch her flesh

_An Arc always keeps his promise!_

_Good luck out there!_

Immense pressure.

_The Pyrrha Nikos I know won't let anything hold her back!_

_Something terrible has happened and we need to stop them, stop anyone else from getting hurt._

She felt the arrow puncture her heart

_Pyrrha don't do this!_

She felt the arrowhead slid through her back.

Pyrrha let out a gasp. She struggled for air. _I don't want to die! I don't want to die like this!_ She thought. Slowly she felt darkness start to creep around her. Her vision blurred and narrowed. Her skin felt cold, it felt like her very body had become unbearably heavy.

 _'Jaune I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not listening. I'm sorry for hurting you, I'm just… so… sorry._ " Pyrrha thought. " _I love you Jaune_." She let out one final gasp before slipping forward. She felt Cinder's hand on her cheek with the last of her strength she looked up and smiled " _You believe in destiny? Good, because Jaune's destiny is to stop you._ " Pyrrha thought.

Cinder frowned. Pyrrha's vision went black as she felt her body glow with an incredible heat. Her last thoughts were of the loveable goofball, his blond hair, his blue eyes and his big smile. Not the worst way to die she thought gently.

Others would disagree, but they didn't see what Pyrrha saw.

Jaune looked towards the tower. It was more impressive far away. He had stopped trying to watch the pillars of flames ages ago. It would be a fight to the finish. But Pyrrha would win. With Ruby and Weiss with her, she would definitely win.

At least that was his belief.

He hacked through his third Grimm that day. They weren't quite as frequent in this area. He didn't know why, but it seemed luck was on his side. He wrenched his sword free of the limp ursa and started to walk down the abandoned street. Most people were hiding in their houses, it was understandable the Grimm were just about everywhere, and with the CCT tower down, instant communication was near impossible.

Jaune flipped through his scroll, opening the map function. Generally it would triangulate his location and he would work from there. This time however, there was no CCT tower so no triangulation, he had to work out where he was on his own.

"I think I passed this river a while ago, did I get turned around?" He asked himself. Pyrrha would know the answer.

Tragically Pyrrha wasn't there to help him, nobody was. He was on his own, in a part of vale he didn't know, defending strangers and trying to make his way towards a Bullhead. He had seen one heading due east he hoped to get there soon.

"Me, Vomit Boy, actually looking to get on a moving vehicle the absurdity." He thought as he laughed. Pyrrha would have a good joke right now, something to raise my sprits he thought as his mood plummeted once again. He leaned against a building. He sighed. He never realized how much he missed Pyrrha at times like this. She had been his best friend, his partner always there for him. Was there a time he wondered if it could be more? Yeah, but he didn't want to screw with the team dynamic. He was a failure, a wimp. He couldn't even beat Cardin, his partner could beat all of team CRDL without breaking sweat.

Part of him imagined what it would be like if he and Pyrrha actually got together. Did you he love her the way She loved him? He didn't know. He'd be happy, she'd be happy; was that what love was? Where everyone was happy?

He doubted that was it, maybe his sisters were right, maybe he had watched too many chic flicks with them. He laughed at the thought. His sisters would go ballistic if he told them that Pyrrha Nikos kissed him. He could imagine Pyrrha blushing shifting with discomfort. He would make sure that his sisters knew exactly who liked him… if Pyrrha and Jaune got together.

He hadn't really decided how he felt about it. It would clearly affect the team dynamic, not necessarily in a good way either. Pyrrha already looked out for him a lot, would that really change? No probably not. Would she get closer to him, probably a lot closer. Jaune shook his head. He didn't really know what to think. He wasn't head of heels for Pyrrha, but at the same time he didn't want to destroy his best friend's heart.

"There's no easy way out for me is there?" Jaune asked nobody in particular as he continued to walk through the abandoned street.

"Pyrrha!" A high-pitched voice screamed. Jaune turned, he stared as a glowing white light grew from the tower. Jaune covered his eyes as the light became blinding. What the hell is happening? He wondered.

Suddenly, the light vanished and darkness returned. Jaune lowered his hand from his eyes and stared at the tower. A deep sense of foreboding made itself known within him. He shivered. "I hope their okay." He said. He turned back towards the Bulkhead docks, he need to get out, meet up with his team and beat some sense into Pyrrha. Jaune took a deep breath, preparing himself for the challenges to come.

He took the first step towards the hangar.


	2. Revelation

Jaune reached the Bullheads without much trouble, the panic had caused a flood of people to flee the area, and the Grimm had dispersed, heading toward other areas or the Dragon on the tower. Jaune's approach had therefore been quite dull. He had fought only two ursa. At one time, they would have killed him, but now, he was able to dispatch them with relative ease. He should thank Pyrrha for that later.

His thoughts wandered back to the kiss. They would have to talk about it. The thought made Jaune shiver a little. Maybe part of it was actually talking about the kiss, maybe it was clearing the air with his teammate, he didn't really know what he was going to say. Why did you kiss me? No, that was stupid, he knew why, at least he thought he did. Pyrrha was clearly attracted to him somehow.

Once again he recalled the dance and what she had told him. He really hoped she wasn't attracted to him because he was ignorant of who she was. That would suck. It also wouldn't make a relationship simpler or better. After all, he couldn't stay (nor did he want to stay) ignorant forever.

"Come on Pyrrha, couldn't you, I don't know… write an anonymous love letter like they do in the movies?" Jaune mumbled as he drew nearer to the hanger bay.

His thoughts wandered to how that would have worked out. Probably terribly he thought. He would likely have thought the letters were from Weiss, and that would have almost certainly gotten him into trouble, then Pyrrha would get depressed, then she would do something dramatic and probably Jaune would end up wandering towards a Bullhead after his partner sent him away for being a useless buffoon.

Kind of like what he was doing right now.

"Yeah, that would have gone badly." He muttered with a slight grin. Strangely enough, part of him felt good that he wasn't the only one lacking confidence in the romance department. The fact that Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible five time Mistral tournament champion, couldn't ask a seventeen year old hunter wannabe who was not at all famous, or talented on a date made his confidence problems seem… less bad?

"Ok, they're still bad." He said laughing a little. When he next met up with Pyrrha he would have to do something big and goofy. He would not wear a dress again, that had been a one-time deal, but he'd have to find something to do to impress her.

"Maybe a serenade? No my guitar skills suck. Maybe a poem? No, Weiss froze me solid when I tried that, probably means a big NO for all girls." He muttered, He paused for a second. "Or maybe I should try something simpler." He mused walking up the ramp to the bullhead dock. He sure as hell hoped there was still one remaining. "You know what, I'll do the simple thing and kiss her, probably in front of a lot of people, embarrassing her and myself as well as being subjected to Yang's teasing for the rest of the year. It'll embarrassing and absolutely awesome at the same time; a little teasing for something that big? Worth it."

Jaune wasn't sure if this romance thing with Pyrrha would work out, hell, he didn't even know if it would last a week! But he might as well try; it wasn't like there was a absolute zero chance of it working out.

"Jaune!" A voice cried. Jaune looked up to see a blur of ginger hair and a pink and white shirt plow into him.

"Nora!" he grunted as the girl hugged him tightly. He tapped her shoulder quickly. "Can't breathe! Can't breathe!" he begged weakly. Nora lightened her grip on her leader. Slowly she looked up at him. The expression on her face filled Jaune with dread. He couldn't describe why, she looked frightened, but there was something in those eyes, pity maybe? Whatever it was it caused a lump to grow in the pit of his stomach. He looked at Ren, who was standing a few feet away.

"What happened?" Jaune asked slowly, watching as Ren's face normally passive, expressed a variety of emotions, fear and empathy appearing the most clearly, before Ren finally settled on a grim expression. Jaune could only feel his dread grow. Had Pyrrha been injured? Had ruby or Weiss? Was it the teachers? Was the bullhead not working? Nora wouldn't be sad about that though, she would argue they could ride a nevermore into Vale. What had happened?

"Jaune, I'm sorry…"

"What happened?" Jaune asked as he slowly pushed away from Nora. Nora for once didn't resist.

"It's a long story…" Ren began, trying to find the words.

"Ren, what happened?" Jaune asked more forcefully, marching up to the raven-haired boy and staring into his violet eyes. Jaune looked around searching for his partner. His dread only continued to grow when he didn't see her.

"Where's Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, fear creeping into his voice. When Ren didn't respond Juane grabbed him by the collar of his green vest and shook him.

"Ren! Where the hell is Pyrrha?" He demanded.

'Jaune, Stop." Ren said, a hint of steel in his voice.

"Where is she Ren? Where is my partner?" Jaune screamed.

"Stop Jaune!" Nora begged, sobbing behind him.

"Where is she?" He screamed again. " Damn it Ren! Where is she?"

'She's gone Jaune!" Ren finally shouted, yanking himself free of Jaune's grip.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

"I mean she's gone! She never came back!"

"She could be injured! She could be hurt! We need to go save her." Jaune began, running through the possible scenarios in his mind. Cinder could have hurt Pyrrha badly; maybe Pyrrha escaped but got injured in the process. Who knows where she could be right now? He needed to find her. Jaune spun around and started to march away.

"Get on the bullhead." Jaune ordered, "I'll find Pyrrha and meet up with you guys-" A single strike to the back of the neck cause Jaune to drop to his knees and quickly fall unconscious. Ren grabbed Jaune's limp body from behind and eased him to the ground..

"I'm sorry, but I won't lose two friends in one day." He said as he hoisted Jaune over his shoulder and walked to the bullhead, gently placing Jaune in a seat. "C'mon Nora, let's go."

"What about Pyrrha?" Nora asked, concerned.

"We'll talk about it on the way." Ren said glancing at the text he had received moments before Jaune arrived. The notification light still blinked on his scroll's screen. Ren had only had a chance to read the message from the notification screen when he was about call Jaune and Pyrrha. Ren knew that it could be a trick, it was from a man named Qrow, a man he didn't know much about. The text was short and blunt. Perhaps that was why it still seemed like it wasn't real.

As Ren sat in his seat across from Nora he glanced at his scroll again. Perhaps he had not had time to accept what the man was saying; perhaps he didn't want to. But he knew that for the time being, keeping this from his team was the best choice. He glanced down at the message again hoping he had misread the message the first time. He frowned, he knew beyond any chance of denial that he hadn't.

To Team JNPR: Pyrrha Nikos is dead, I'm sorry.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Jaune awoke in a panic. He saw tubes, wires, a pale white ceiling. He panicked, flailing as a rapid beep came from a nearby monitor. Images of horror movies, seen at the insistence of sisters, teammates and friends came to mind as he imagined himself captured by possible enemies. Flashes of color, green and pink appeared, hands quickly pressing on his shoulders. Voices calling out his name as hunter training slowly allowed him to calm down and absorb the situation.

Two faces came into focus, concern apparent on their faces. Magenta eyes calm but holding hint of fear, looked at him. The other a girl, looked at the person staring at him, fear and concern on her face. Her face was puffy, like she had just been crying.

"Ren?" He panted. Ren smiled slightly in response.

"You're back then. Good to see you weren't flailing in your sleep." Ren said, a hint of relief in his voice. Jaune pushed himself up in his bed, his hammering heart slowing back to its normal pace.

'What happened? Where am I? What's going on?" Jaune asked rapidly, his mouth racing to catch up with his mind.

"You were unconscious, in a hospital, not much." Ren said briefly, visibly relaxing.

"Where's Pyrrha?" Jaune asked. Dread grew as he saw the expression on Ren's face.

"We should talk about that later." Ren began.

"No." Nora responded fiercely. Jaune turned to look at her. Her expression was one of sadness and more than a hint of regret. Her face was red and puffy, and her eyes were bloodshot. Jaune wanted to push for an answer and opened his mouth to do so. Before he could ask a question the door to his hospital room swung open.

A doctor with combed black hair marched in. he was tall and lanky. Two nurses flanked him.

"Mr. Lie, Ms. Valkyrie, you can see your team leader when I am done. Until then, out." He ordered in a voice that permitted no resistance. The two nurses practically dragged the pair out of the room. Ren turned briefly, promising to talk about it soon.

When the door was shut behind them, the doctor pulled a stool over to the bedside. He picked up the clipboard at the edge of the bed a flipped through it. "Everything looks to be in order, a few lacerations, a concussion, broken ribs…

"Nothing a little aura and a few days rest can't fix." He muttered. He then looked at Jaune; a small, kind smile appeared on his face as he sat in the stool.

'Jaune, Do you mind if I call you Jaune?" A small nod from Jaune was met with a brief thanks. "My name is Nicholas Flamel. I am a doctor who works on-call at Beacon. You are currently at Vale General Hospital." He began calmly. Jaune's body stiffened at hearing he was in Vale. "Relax, Atlas and the Hunters got rid of most of the Grimm outside of Beacon. We're in what they are calling the Green Zone, the area of the city that is safe.

"Now Jaune, I know it's hard, but I need you to tell me everything you remember, From your charts there appears to be no physical trauma, but emotional trauma is very likely in these kinds of circumstances." He said in a calm and soothing voice.

Jaune hesitated for a moment before he began his story, starting with the aftermath of Pyrrha and Penny's fight. He told Flamel everything from the fight, to the time underground with Pyrrha and Ozpin, to his arrival at the hanger.

The only thing he didn't mention was Pyrrha's kiss.

Flamel nodded as Jaune talked. He jotted down the occasional note but overall seemed intrigued by Jaune's story.

"That is something Jaune. You are very lucky to have had such a level headed partner who cared for your safety." Flamel said at the end. Something about the comment, maybe the way it was said, what it implied caused Jaune to snap.

"That's what you got out of it? Pyrrha abandoned me! she didn't have faith in me! I was her partner that should mean something!" Jaune exclaimed, his blood boiling. Flamel looked shocked for only a moment, surprised by the unexpected outburst. Flamel looked down and sighed.

"I'm no hunter, but from what I've seen and heard, in hindsight, she made the right choice." Flamel replied, calm as ever.

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked, confusion apparent on his face. Flamel paled, apparently realizing a potential blunder. "What. Happened?" Jaune hissed, anger visible on his face.

Flamel stood hastily. "It's not my place to tell. This is better heard from those you care about." With that he strode to the door, flinging it open he shouted for a nurse.

"Wait a minute!" Jaune called after him, pulling himself out of the bed, electronics and tubes trailing after him. Flamel turned around. "Stay in bed Jaune, this will all get explained soon." He ordered. Jaune strode up, yanking at cords, disconnecting them. An alarm went of as he pulled away the heart monitor. Jaune grabbed the doctor by his collar.

'Tell me what the hell is going on right this minute!" he shouted at the man's face.

"Pyrrha's dead." Came an answer from an unexpected voice. Jaune turned, not truly comprehending the words. There standing in the hallway was Ren and Nora. Ren was trying hard to keep the tears from his eyes, staying strong for others. Nora was crying freely, and it was her who had revealed the terrible truth.

"What?" He asked, not sure he heard Nora correctly. It sounded like she had said Pyrrha was dead. Such a claim was certainly false. They were talking about Pyrrha Nikos here. The invincible girl! There was no way she died! Hurt sure, he could believe hurt; she went up against a super-villain hunter lady! Hurt made sense. Dead? No, that was absolutely impossible, no way in hell that would ever happen.

"Pyrrha is dead Jaune. Ruby's uncle, Qrow, he told us." Ren said quietly, he shuddered as he talked as if he was dealing with something that terrified him.

"What?" Jaune asked again, still not registering what was going on, at least not fully. "Stop with the cruel joke guys. Did Yang put you up to this? Some weird way of getting me and Pyrrha to kiss on camera or something?"

"Jaune…" Nora began, tears flowing freely.

"No! You're lying! Or Qrow doesn't know what the hell he saw! Pyrrha is not dead! There is no way she would die! She's too skilled! If she were outmatched she would run! She would never die! Especially not like that." He shouted, the last word coming out with a hint of disdain. He dropped the doctor who scrambled away from the enraged teen. Jaune marched up to Ren, who stood resolute, his face hardening with resolve.

"You're parents are coming to pick you up. They'll be here soon. You should get yourself cleaned up, and deal with this later." Ren tried to reason, knowing that it was not likely to work. He cursed Jaune's poorly timed realization of Pyrrha's crush. It really could not have happened at a worse time. It would only cause Jaune to feel more guilt, and make acceptance harder, especially if there was a chance of Jaune returning those feelings.

Ren confirmed his worst fears when Jaune's response to his proposal was throwing a punch. Well, he definitely has some sort of feelings for Pyrrha He thought as his head whipped to the side from the unexpected attack, causing him to stumble backwards. Nora gasped in shock, but wisely decided not to intervene. Ren made a note to thank her later for that.

"You're lying!" Jaune said throwing another punch, "Qrow's wrong!" he shouted smashing a fist into Ren's cheek.

"Pyrrha is dead." Ren growled, wiping blood of his lip and onto his sleeve.

'No!" Jaune howled striking wildly. Ren bore the assault. He heard the doctor call for nurses, he heard Jaune's screams, calling him and Nora things he didn't mean, Heard him speak of Qrow and the beacon staff in a way that would get most people killed or at least beaten to a pulp. He cursed and wailed against the world, before then cursing himself. The strikes lessened in strength and ferocity quickly. And Ren found Jaune clinging to him weeping.

'She's still out there. I abandoned her. I'm a horrible partner, a horrible leader. I should have gone back, gone back to the tower after I got out of the locker. I abandoned my friend and now… and now… She's out there alone and probably hurt… and there's nothing I can do…" He sobbed.

Ren looked at Nora, he wasn't good with this kind of emotion the raw anger and frustration, the feelings of helplessness. He couldn't make those go away. As Jaune sobbed into his shoulder Ren patted Jaune on the back. Nora came over as well, and wrapped her two friends into a deep, but surprisingly gentle hug. The tears flowed freely from all three of them, overcome as they were with emotion and exhaustion. The nurses approached with a syringe for Jaune, but Flamel waved them away, realizing that even treatment for Ren was ultimately unnecessary.

The surviving members of team JNPR remained like that, comforting each other, unaware of the rest of the world until Jaune's family came to retrieve him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In regards to the OC, The name is from a real (but LOOONG dead) person, no relation to the actual person is intended. Don't expect for him to make a reappearance.
> 
> Still here? Sensational! This is fantastic!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> reviews are always appreciated!


	3. Denial

Jaune watched as the crowded airship rose. Cheers and gasps of surprise swept through the cabin. He momentarily glanced at the family that had come to pick him up. His mother and father had come, as well as his two youngest siblings. The two napped in their mothers lap across the aisle; a slight smile on his mother's lips at the small comfort. His father sat net to him. His stern face made all the more intimidating by his height and the well-maintained beard on his face. The fear was reduced a bit by the lazy ponytail his father had crammed his hair in. The ponytail reminded him of Pyrrha.

A feeling like a bolt of electricity passing through his chest struck him as the memories played once again. The locker, the pleading, the kiss. All the way to the fact that Ren and Nora believed Pyrrha was dead. Fortunately for Pyrrha, her partner was not so quick to believe it. There was no evidence of her death, no blood, no body. Qrow hadn't even seen her die; therefore, at least as far as Jaune was concerned there was a big enough hole in the narrative to drive a truck through. Ruby supposedly, had been there. She wasn't awake yet, but Jaune was certain that when she was, she would reveal what Cinder had done to Pyrrha, where Cinder had taken her. Then all of them could go fight and rescue her.

Jaune almost smiled at the thought as he imagined team RWBY and JNPR beating the hell out of Cinder Fall, the terrorist who instigated the Breach and the Fall of Beacon. Qrow Branwen had told him only the barest of details, likely to keep him from pursuing her. Not like he had the strength to face that monster on his own. With his team, Ruby, Yang Weiss and Blake, she'd be beaten in no time flat.

Another pang of hurt struck Jaune. Team RWBY was more or less disbanded, Blake had run away, Weiss was back in Atlas, and from what he knew; Yang was in no condition to fight. It would be some time before they were reunited and ready. Jaune wasn't sure if he could wait. If Cinder did anything to Pyrrha…

"I'll kill her." He said.

"Jaune?" his father asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Nothing dad." Jaune said quickly, not even glancing at him.

"I know you are worried about your friends, your teammates, but they said they'd be fine. If they ever want to visit the door is always open." His father said, trying to comfort the boy. Ren and Nora had been offered a place at the Arc family's estate. It wasn't large, but it was big enough to fit another two people. They had declined, instead insisting on training.

"Besides, Jaune needs to heal. He needs to be surrounded by his family, not reminded of what happened."

James Arc knew what they were implying, he knew the reasoning behind it and perhaps sadly, he agreed. He already saw the signs of what he truly dreaded. Jaune still talked about Pyrrha in the present tense. He had yet to come to grips with what had happened, he needed time to process, to understand. Time to grieve for what he had lost.

As soon as the cabin attendants had announced that people could move around the cabin, James looked at his wife, it seems as if an entire conversation passed between them within a few moments. Eventually she gave a slight nod. James placed his hand on Jaune's shoulder.

"Come with me Jaune, we need to talk."

"Dad, I get it but really-"

"Jaune." His dad began, his tone becoming sharp and deadly serious. "We need to talk now."

Jaune looked at his father for a few moments, wondering what to do. Eventually he nodded. James released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and the two of them walked towards the observation deck.

It was only when they were, almost cruelly, away from airsickness bags and trashcans that Jaune let him know that his motion sickness had not improved since his time at beacon.

In fact, James thought as his son left his half digested lunch on James' new shoes and shirt, that it might have in fact gotten worse. A sigh of exasperation left his lips as Jaune apologized. James rolled his eyes, he had dealt with this for most of the family, and he blamed his wife. Joan was the one who got airsick, a fact he did not know until he had proposed on an airship. You are destined to repeat what you don't learn. James thought as he handed Jaune some motion sickness pills. He slowly wiped himself off, mentally cursing that he had not brought an extra set of clothing. This conversation probably wouldn't come off as well when the man giving lessons was covered in vomit. Not much I can do about that though. He thought with a shrug.

"I know what you believe, I know what you want, but Jaune you need to be ready." He began as Jaune cleaned his face.

"For what?" his son asked.

"Pyrrha Nikos." He replied.

There was a pregnant silence as Jaune slowly absorbed what his father meant.

"You do realize you are talking about the five time Mistral champion, the super-star of huntresses in training everywhere."

"Even the mightiest can fall to a single arrow." James replied.

"She's not dead." Jaune stated.

"You don't know that. Not anymore than Qrow knows she is dead." James retorted, cursing his parental instincts for cushioning the blow with that second sentence. Of course, Pyrrha Nikos was dead. She would have reported in if she weren't. The likelihood of kidnapping was absurdly small; it would have been impossible to carry a Huntress down that tower. And if Qrow was right (which he usually was), Ruby Rose had activated the power of her ancestors. Those with silver eyes only gained that power through incredible loss. If the two teams were as close as he believed, Pyrrha Nikos' death would have been the perfect trigger.

"I do. I have faith in Pyrrha. She is not dead." Jaune said. There was another silence.

'I'm gonna go get some rest." Jaune said after the silence lasted more than a minute. He strode past James and closed the observation deck door behind him. James Arc looked out the window to see the clouds float by. It seemed so peaceful up here. So in contrast to how he felt inside.

"That's what I thought about my partner." James muttered shaking his head. Recalling his own experience at what Jaune had gone through. His story had ended differently, had had a different situation, but the thoughts were almost exactly the same. He needed to get Jaune to accept what had happened; if he didn't… well nothing else would really matter.

Jaune sat down his seat.

"Where's your father?" His mother asked. Jaune shrugged.

"Jaune look at me." She said. Jaune looked at his mother, saw the worry on her face. "We're here for you. Your father, me, your sisters. We're here for you all of us. Please remember that." She insisted. Jaune nodded before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

James returned a little while later. He noted that Jaune was fast asleep. As were the twins. They all looked serene. Quiet and peaceful, as if the past forty-eight hours had never happened.

'Didn't give Jaune the pills quick enough?" Joan Arc teased. James rolled his eyes.

"He has turned airsickness into an art form."

"Of course he did, I am his mother."

"Why did Jaune have to take after you in that regard? Why not in singing, or music, why in projectile vomit?"

"He wouldn't be an Arc without a few quirks." She said teasingly as she toyed with one of the twins' hair. James sat down. He yawned; the day had been exhausting, not physically, but emotionally.

"How bad is it?" Joan asked quietly.

"Much worse than I would have guessed. He has absolute faith that she is alive."

"Isn't that a good thing? He hasn't given up hope."

"This is beyond hope, this is denial. He refuses to even accept that there is a possibility that she is dead. That is where the problem lies."

"Then what do we do? Ride out the storm?"

James nodded. 'We can only be there for him. I'm just afraid of what he'll do before he accepts it."

"I'll call Daisy, She owes me a favor, and a grief counselor would help."

"Only if he understands what he's going through. Jaune was never trained to be a hunter, never conditioned for it. I don't doubt that he has the potential, but the mental and emotional training, the level of detachment needed to continue down this path he's chosen, it's trained, it's not something a sane person is born with."

"You handled it fairly well when Rouge died."

"Rouge was good friend, not my partner, I had support from people equally close to me, as well as my family. That's not something Jaune has right now. And if what Qrow says is correct, He doesn't have the time I did." James said as his mood darkened. He never wanted to be involved in Ozpin's shadow war but after Qrow showed up on their doorstep, cradling their eldest daughter, drenched in blood, he didn't really have much of a choice. Those who hurt his family faced his wrath.

Or Joan's wrath, which was, on even the best of days, infinitely worse.

Jaune seemed to be in a trance on the drive back to the Arc estate. He looked at the car window in silence, offering only one-word answers as both James and Joan tried to drag him into a conversation. The twins played with toys in the back of the car and on occasion tried to bring Jaune into their play. It didn't work. At one point Jaune snapped.

"You're twelve years old, grow up." He said glaring at the twins before turning back to the window. The twins didn't bother him after that, but James and Joan shared an uneasy glance.

The state itself could barely be called that, it was large to be sure, but the house itself was rather small, at least, with eight children in the house it tended to seem that way. It was a two-floor house, painted a rich brown. It had plenty of windows and the house lit up with natural light. The drive from the main road was mercifully short, they had built the house in clearing behind a heavily forested area, so it seemed as if a tunnel of dark forest vanished into a bright clearing. The roundabout in front of the house was paved with gravel and the front yard was at least an acre. It was near the edge of vale's borders, so land was cheap, especially in a heavily forested area. The Vale council may have intended the property to be farmland, but James and Joan Arc had made it into their private world, a place they could raise a family in peace, away from the fame and attention of the world at large.

As the group entered, both Joan and James visibly relaxed. The twins charged off, laughing as the vanished into a nearby room. The scent of cinnamon wafted through the house. Even Jaune couldn't help but relax a little. He still feared what Cinder could be doing to Pyrrha, but he didn't entertain the idea that he could help right now. Alone, at his current level, he had no chance of saving Pyrrha. At home, he could at least train.

"Jaune!" Exclaimed a voice. Jaune glance at the stairs to see Jacquelyn Arc, the eldest daughter of James and Joan Arc rush down and place him in a bear hug. A hunter by trade, she had gone to Haven and graduated with the top marks in her class.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" She said releasing him she looked him up and down. "I heard what happened to Beacon…" She began. She paused as she saw the look on Jaune's face. It was a look she could never forget. Jaune's eyes were downcast; they seemed weak and almost devoid of hope.

"Jaune, what happened?" She asked, glancing at their parents, who shifted uncomfortably and looked at each other, clearly debating what to explain.

Tears dripped down Jaune's cheeks. "I… I failed her…" He muttered. Jacquelyn pulled him into another hug. Holding him even tighter this time.

"You didn't fail anyone Jaune, You saved lives at Beacon. You're a hero."

Jaune hugged her back as he sobbed into his eldest sister's shoulder. He clung to her, like he did as a child, wondering why Grandpa Arc was being buried.

"We won't be able to play Hunters and Grimm with him, he won't be able to tell us stories of heroes anymore! How will he jog in a box? They shouldn't do that, it's mean." The young Jaune Arc had said. he had only been five at the time. He had hugged her tightly then too trying with all his might to avoid accepting a terrible truth.

Jaune didn't stop sobbing until he collapsed form exhaustion. Jacquelyn carried him to his bed and tucked him in, she only hoped he would feel better after some rest. She gently closed the door to Jaune's room behind her.

"What the hell happened at Beacon?" She hissed as she marched into the living room. Her parents were sitting on a white linen couch, leaning in towards each other, staring intently at the empty fireplace.

"Pyrrha died." James said simply.

"Jaune's partner? The Pyrrha Nikos?" Jacquelyn asked. When she had heard that Pyrrha Nikos had chosen Jaune as her partner she was admittedly surprised, but also comforted by the fact that someone so competent was to be Jaune's partner.

"Yes." Joan confirmed.

"When? How? Did he see it happen?" Jacquelyn couldn't help but be worried, she was the big sister, the one who was supposed to protect her siblings, if Jaune had seen something like that, so early on in his career, would he even be able to deal with it?

"No, he didn't see it happen. Supposedly, a friend of his did, but she's still unconscious." James explained quietly. "She was murdered by an terrorist, form what we know she sent Jaune away before it happened."

"I doubt Jaune agreed to leave." Jacquelyn retorted.

"From what we heard, she shoved him in a rocket locker." Joan said.

Jacquelyn couldn't help a small smile appearing on her lips. It was typical Jaune, try to be the hero and get shoved in a locker for it. Jacquelyn's smile vanished as she sat on the couch's armrest.

'So what are we going to do?" She asked.

"What can we do?" Was the haunting reply.

It was a few days later that Ruby awoke.

Qrow immediately called the Arc household. James had picked up the scroll, Most of the Arc sister's were still at the respective schools and workplaces, the crashing of the CCT had caused problems in bringing them all back, but they were expected by the end of the week. James had rushed to answer, fearing that someone had missed an airship, or had something come up at work, it was a terrifying thought, Jaune needed the support. He was still fervently denying the possibility of Pyrrha's death. Even though, by now that was y far the likeliest scenario.

"Arc household, James speaking!" He said quickly.

"James, it's Qrow. Ruby's up." Came the terse reply.

James Arc nearly dropped the scroll at the surprise. Ruby wasn't expected to be awake for another week. His thoughts immediately turned to Jaune, who was out with Jacquelyn, getting some fresh air and "space" at the nearby farmer's market.

"Well, do we…" James began dread pooling in his stomach.

"We already did, but now there's no room for doubt. She's dead. Cinder Fall killed Pyrrha Nikos on Beacon Tower."

James sighed, expecting the news but hoping to be wrong. "Jaune won't take it well, especially not from me. I think the only one he'll believe at this point is Ruby."

"Is he there now?" Qrow asked. "Qrow! Your niece just woke up, is she really ready for that kind of discussion?"

"This is gotta be treated like a band aid, yanking it off is the best way, a slow pace will only cause more pain, not less."

"My daughter Janice is a psychologist, she said that he could lash out at whoever tells him, what if he does that to Ruby? She's his closest friend left, if he loses her too…"

"Ruby's too good a girl to let something like that destroy a friendship. Call me when Jaune get's back. I'll put Ruby on the scroll." With that Qrow hung up. James stared at the scroll. Jaune would be back in a few hours, he knew what he had to do, even if he thought it was a bad idea.

"Just like a Band-Aid. Pulling it off quickly doesn't mean it wont hurt like hell though." James said. The sooner this was over, the sooner Jaune would return to normal, James may not have approved of Jaune's way of getting into beacon, but he knew just as well that Jaune would do anything he could to become a hunter, he'd rather his son get trained then charge off and get killed. But now, after all that happened, he wondered if turning a blind eye had actually been a grave mistake, and this was the consequence, watch, helpless as his soon crumbled before him.

It was nearly four when Jaune and Jacquelyn returned. Jaune was smiling slightly while Jacquelyn was outright laughing. As they came in James noted they were discussing Jacquelyn's first attempt at killing a death stalker on her own, She had succeeded, but other problems had ensued, causing her to be late for a date which in turn caused a break-up which caused a host of other problems. Once again James wondered if his family should have a reality TV series. It would make them quite a bit of money, even if he would have hated every living minute of it.

James coughed loudly as the siblings passed by him. Jaune paused.

"Jaune, Ruby's awake." James said. The reaction Jaune's face was a mixture of joy and fear. His eyes lit up.

"Can I talk to her?" He asked weakly. His voice barely louder than a whisper. Jacquelyn looked at her brother, concern in her eyes. James pulled out his scroll, dialed Qrow's number and let the scroll ring. He handed it to Jaune.

"Just… remember what I said. Whatever happens, Ruby is your friend." James said. Hoping to avoid harming his son more, thank goodness Joan was busy organizing militia defenses for the rest of the day, he preferred getting lectured by his wife in their bedroom at night… clean thoughts! He thought furiously fortunately hiding a blush from his children.

Jaune lifted the scroll.

'Ruby?"

"Hey Jaune." Ruby replied gently.

"How are you? Is yang okay?"

"I'm doing okay, Yang is… well… she'll be fine, she just need some time."

"Look I know right now isn't the best time and that we are all still recovering, but anything you could tell me about where Cinder took Pyrrha, if they said anything, did something anything at all-"

"Jaune…" ruby interrupted, Jaune could hear her choking on her words.

"Ruby what is it?" He said suddenly worried.

"Cinder didn't take Pyrrha. She… She killed her Jaune. Right in front of me. She shot Pyrrha in the chest. Then she… did something weird. She touched her and Pyrrha just turned to ash… Uncle Qrow said they had a video of it too. They're still working on restoring the footage."

Jaune didn't respond, Jacquelyn looked at him, concern in her eyes. Jaune's eyes widened but slowly the also began to harden, a scowl coming across his face.

"Jaune I'm sorry, I didn't get there in time." Ruby said, crying quietly on the phone.

"You should be." He hissed. He heard three separate gasps.

"Ruby your speed is semblance. I trusted you. I trusted you to help her, I trusted you to save her. Instead, You couldn't you couldn't be a hero. SO much for the heroes in the fairytales." He snarled. Hanging up the scroll. He tossed it to his father before storming off to his room.

"Jaune!" Jacquelyn exclaimed turning as her brother slammed the door to his room behind him, a quiet click sealing it off form the rest of the world. James glanced at the phone and contemplated calling back. He decided against it. His son had chosen to say those words he needed to learn there were consequences.

In his room Jaune was curled up in a ball, sobbing as he was forced to accept that Pyrrha was not going to return. He cursed the world that had created Cinder Fall, he cursed team RWBY, who had been the best of their year, but were incapable of stopping her. Most of all he cursed himself, for being too weak to fight back, too weak to drag Pyrrha into the locker with him. Too weak to force her into the locker instead. His weakness had allowed Pyrrha to die. He touched his lips, thinking back to the kiss. He let out a scream of rage and frustration.

On Patch, Ruby was curled up into a ball as well. Her eyes red and her cheeks puffy from tears. Her father was sitting on the bed next to her, saying soothing and kind words. She heard none of it. One of her best friends hated her. He trusted her with the most important person to him, the one who he trusted above all others, and she had failed him. Jaune's right she thought. Pyrrha's death is my fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter dealt with people other than Jaune a lot more than I expected it to. But then again, the grief of a family member would have a ripple affect. I hope it met everyone's expectations! Please tell me what you think of the story so far!


	4. Anger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp! I didn't give a story recommendation last time! That means two this time! For a cure to Arkos-sinking (or titanic) sadness, Read Pyrrha(c) victory by the Rogue King, definitely heartwarming. Another great one is Meet the Arcs by (you guessed it) College Fool, I recently stumbled upon it, it is set up as a kind of summary rather than a story per say, but a fantastic Lancaster story nonetheless.
> 
> Now, time for the story

Chapter 4: Anger

Now she throws the shield. Then tries to use it to shove Cinder over there.

Jaune stared intently at the Scroll in his hands, watching the footage play out.

Now she slams cinder with the gears. They burst off.

Pyrrha is out of Aura, she throws her shield, turns to run and gets struck with an arrow in the leg.

Jaune's throat tightened as he saw his partner- former partner fall to the ground with an arrow through her heel. He watched as cinder lifted her head. He sucked in his breathe as He watched cinder draw an arrow. Of to the corner of the screen Jaune noticed the arrival of a red cap, tinted blue. She arrived just as the arrow flew and struck its intended victim.

Jaune's grip tightened on the scroll as he watched his partner gasp for air. He shut his eyes as cinder gently placed her hand on Pyrrha's cheek, He counted the seconds and opened his eyes in time to see the blinding white light. Then the screen went black. The footage was finished, nothing else had been recovered.

Jaune sat on his bed for a moment longer. Fury bubbling in his chest. It burst all at once, with a scream he threw the scroll at the wall, the scroll bounced off, leaving yet another dent in the wall. His fury exhausted he slumped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

This time, like the three days before, nobody rushed up to his room to see if he was okay. For he first two days after his outburst at Ruby, he had stayed in his room, water and meals left at the door, the explosive rage had caused him to exert his frustration any way he could. His room was a mess. Bookcases overturned, picture frames cracked, the small TV missing its screen. He simply felt like screaming, crying and begging for forgiveness.

By the third day, he regretted lashing out at ruby, she wasn't at fault for getting there too late, not really anyway. He was at fault, he had taken too long to get out of the locker, he had taken too long to call Ruby. If he had been faster, Ruby would have gotten there in time and Pyrrha would still be alive. Hell, if he had been more skilled, maybe he wouldn't have dropped his guard when Pyrrha kissed him. Then he would have been able to convince her not to fight cinder.

"I might not have shot the arrow, but it was all my fault." He muttered to no one in particular. "I let my partner die."

He wasn't particularly angry at the world anymore, he was angrier with himself.

A gentle knock came from the door.

"it's Jacquelyn." A voice muttered, muffled by the thick open door.

'Come in." Jaune replied his voice barely above a whisper. For a moment he thought about repeating himself louder, but held back, he had lashed out before, he had caused the Twins to cry the day before, no need to repeat that mess.

The door opened and Jacquelyn walked in, closing the door silently behind her. She glanced at the room. If anything it looked to be in worse shape every time she entered the room. Jaune had isolated himself, and it wasn't doing anyone any good. Their parents were terrified that their soon had become severely depressed, both took turns keeping observation on their child, even if nobody would have noticed. Both had already expressed their fear that one day they would walk in to find their son…

Jacquelyn Arc shook the thought away; Jaune was stronger than any of them had given him credit for. Jenna and Jeanne Arc had arrived the other day, both had advised an immediate intervention, drag him to a psychiatrist and convince him to give up being a hunter.

Only James and Jacquelyn had been entirely against it (Joan reluctantly agreed). Instead both advocated giving him time to get over his grief, and then if they believed it necessary, send him to a psychiatrist for evaluation. Jaune was a hunter, and this was an unfortunate part of the job, he'd have to learn to move on. Jacquelyn just wished it didn't have to be so soon.

She sat down on the bed next to him. "How are you feeling?"

"Angry, tired, useless." Jaune responded, continuing his staring contest with the ceiling. Jacquelyn placed a hand on his shoulder. "Did dad ever tell you about Rouge?"

Jaune shook his head.

"When Dad had just graduated, he had a close friend called Rouge Lavender."

"Any relation to the TV anchor?" Jaune asked, snorting. Jacquelyn rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, I never asked.

"Anyway, Rouge was an awesome huntress, top of her class and everything. She worked with Dad while Mom was pregnant, and helped out around the house. When I was really young, I used to call her Auntie Rouge, Jenna and Jeanne don't remember her. When I was four and they were two…" Jacquelyn took a deep breath and looked into Jaune's eyes. "She died." Jaune stared at her, eyes wide with surprise.

'In hindsight it wasn't that surprising really, She was always a little reckless, taking on squad missions by herself. Her team couldn't keep up with her at Beacon, so she never worked with them afterwards, never called them for backup.

Dad got a voicemail one night, there was a thunderstorm, and I'm sure dad told you how I was with thunderstorms as a kid. "

"He said you would always hide in the closet." Jaune muttered.

"Damn right, those things scared the hell out of me." Jacquelyn said with a smile, remembering happier, and simpler times. "But anyway, he san dto me while one was going on. Rouge called him, but he didn't have his scroll on him, he left it downstairs. He fell asleep with me in that closet."

'Does mom have a picture?" jaune asked.

'Probably. But that's beside the point. The point is that Rouge called and he found out the next day. Rouge had been injured in a rockslide, broken leg. Her aura was low and she was out of food and supplies. Plus she was working outside the kingdoms. They found some remains a few days later."

Jaune remained silent.

"Dad was really broken up about it, I mean, seriously. He blamed himself, I think he still does. That is why he didn't want any of us to be hunters."

"What does that have to do with me though?" Jaune asked.

Jacquelyn blinked had none of that gotten through to him?

"Our dad loses his best friend? You should be able to see the parallels." Jacquelyn said.

"Yeah, but he didn't abandon his partner, he was helping someone, doing something useful, he was helping you. I wasn't doing anything,"

"As hunters we are basically destined to lose someone we care about in a fight. Dad lost his friend to a grimm. You lost yours to a different sort of monster."

Jaune sat up and stared at his feet. "Can I tell you a secret?" Jaune asked.

"Of course Jaune, I promise not to tell anyone." Jacquelyn said firmly.

"We were with Ozpin, Cinder showed up and killed this girl in a capsule. It was all really strange. But he told us to get to Qrow and Professor Goodwitch. When we got outside, we found out that Ozpin had been defeated. Pyrrha wanted to stop her. I told her no."

"You did everything you could Jaune. Nobody is blaming you."

"She kissed me then shoved me in a locker. For a while, I thought she liked me."

Jacquelyn froze, a look of sympathy crossing her face. In her mind at least, Pyrrha Nikos and her brother would have been a great couple, assuming Pyrrha could deal with getting the approval from not just one, but seven sisters.

"I was stupid. She did it to distract me, so she could get me out of her hair. One less thing to hold her down."

"Jaune…"

"Let me finish!" Jaune snapped. Jacquelyn leaned back, surprised by the change in mood.

"I was an idiot then, and I'm an idiot now. But that doesn't mean I need to be coddled. Of course people blame me! I was her partner! I should have convinced her to run! Instead, she backstabbed me and ignored me. Then she ran off and got herself killed! I may be an idiot, but I'm smart enough to be alive!" Jaune shouted standing up.

"Jaune! That's no way to talk about your partner!" Jacquelyn exclaimed. Her face turning to a scowl.

"I need some air, later." Jaune said, rushing to shove on a pair of shoes and left. He leapt down the stairs and marched out the front door. Bumping into Jeanne on the way out.

"Hey! What's your problem?" She demanded her angry expression changed to one of remorse almost immediately. She began to apologize.

"Sor-"

"Fuck off Jeanne." Jaune retorted, slamming the front door behind him.

Jacquelyn rushed down the stairs , snapping her eyes shut as the front door closed with a loud slam. She looked at Jeanne.

Jeanne was standing stock still, he short blonde hair slicked back, She wore dark jeans and a sky blue blouse. She turned to look at Jacquelyn, her face still expressing shock.

"Did Jaune Arc just swear?" She asked dumbstruck.

"You know better than to prod him like that."

"Says the elder sister who put him in that mood. I still say go have him see a shrink. He's not cut out for hunting. I can get him a job at the paper if that's the problem."

Jacquelyn sighed and shook her head. "I'm sure he'd appreciate the offer if he wanted to be a journalist, but he wants to be a hunter, and he's worked hard to achieve his dreams. I won't let anyone take that away from him."

Jeanne walked up and hugged her elder sister. Rubbing her back. Jacquelyn returned the embrace, even as she felt tears drip down her cheeks. Even unarmed and being almost out of aura, surrounded by Grimm, she never felt this helpless.

"He'll be alright. He's strong, but I think he needs to talk with someone who isn't emotionally compromised around him." Jeanne said.

"I'm afraid that doing that now might cause more harm than good. You saw what happened to dad."

"Jaune isn't dad." Jeanne pointed out.

"I know, but still, you and Jennie aren't hunters. Jaune will have to deal with things like this for the rest of his life." Jacquelyn looked around. "Where is Jennie anyway?"

Jeanne shrugged 'She's off on her daily run, It's like twelve miles or something." Jacquelyn shook her head.

'Just when we needed her too."

Jaune was sitting on a bench overlooking a nearby lake when he met his elder sister. She was running in a tank top and shorts, her shoulder length blond hair tied in a small ponytail. She had headphones on and was glistening with sweat. She passed by Jaune and continued to run.

"Best of luck with your run." Jaune muttered a hint of sarcasm in his voice. He mentally kicked himself, bad enough he was being an ass to Jacquelyn, the twins and even Jeanne, now he was going to be a jerk to Jennie just because she was training? Something he should be doing right now?

"Hardly noticed you there kid." Came a sing-song voice. Jaune looked up to see Jennie walking back to him, headphones dangling from her neck. She was breathing heavily but had a big smile on her face, It reminded him a little of Yang's.

"I'm not sure a want to be noticed right now. I'm kinda being an ass to everyone." Jaune said quietly. Jennie sat next to him. She wrapped her arm around Jaune and pulled him close.

"Jaune, why do you want to be a hunter?" She asked.

"I want to be a hero, carry on-"

"Why do you Jaune want to be a hunter, forget the Arc legacy, forget all that crap. Jacquelyn can carry on the legacy for all anyone cares. If you weren't an Arc, If there weren't a legacy, would you still want to be a hunter?"

There was a long pause. Jaune wondered to himself why he wanted to be a hunter, why he had faked transcripts, at the time it was to make other people proud, but now?

"Yes." Jaune whispered. His voice was weak, but Jennie could sense the will behind it.

'Well then, why do you want to be a hunter?"

"I… don't know why, not anymore. I just do." Jaune said.

Jennie smiled and rubbed her fist into his head, ignoring his flailing and protests. "No easy way out for you Jaune! I expect a good answer!" She said cheerfully.

Jaune looked at her. His face torn between confusion and sorrow. Jennie looked down at her younger brother. She gave a small sigh.

"Well, no need to tell me today." She said getting up. She turned to look at Jaune. "I do expect an answer though." She put on her headphones and continued her run.

Jaune stared at his sister, shrinking into the distance. He sat in silence for a few more minutes before his scroll began to buzz. He glanced at it. An unknown number was shown on the screen. He shrugged and answered.

"Hello?"

"Jaune, this is Qrow Branwen, Ruby and Yang's uncle."

Jaune froze fearing the inevitable verbal tongue lashing that was to come.

"I'm not her to talk about that mess with Ruby, We need to talk about Pyrrha and what was actually going on."

Jaune nodded "I'm listening."

Jaune arrived back at the house later in the evening. He quietly opened the front door to see much of his family impatiently waiting. His father and mother looked grim. Jacquelyn had her arms crossed and looked furious. The twins looked mildly scared and Jeanne also looked concerned. The only one who was completely calm was Jennie.

"I told you he would be okay." She said.

As if a huge dam had just broken his family rushed to hug him. Jaune was surprised at the concern. His parents weren't exactly strict about a curfew, and he had come home later before.

He was peppered with questions. And exhaustively answered all of them. By the time that was finished, Jaune had discovered that dinner had been left in the oven for a hour too long, needless to say, nobody complained when the ordered pizza instead of eating the charred remains of whatever poor creature their mother had decided to cook.

Throughout the dinner, Jaune made polite, but ultimately fake conversation. He glanced at his father a scowl coming across his face as he recalled his conversation with Qrow. The discussion had been about the story of the four maidens and how it was real, how magic was real, and how some people could harness it. The gears turned in Jaune's head a plan, a long-term plan, clicking into place.

"Dad. Can I talk to you after dinner?" Jaune asked.

"Sure son." James replied, pulling out another slice of pizza. Jacquelyn felt distinctly uncomfortable, she had read up on grief and dealing with it, she had when she lost a friend in a hunting accident. She read up on it again after she heard what happened to Pyrrha.

She observed Jaune closely, right now Jaune was angry, angry at himself, she suspected. But that seemed strangely… absent from dinner tonight. She had talked with him and he always had lashed out a something, most commonly himself. It did her no good to guess, but she wondered what had changed to make Jaune act differently.

She exchanged glances with her mother, a subtle nod confirming that her concerns over Jaune were shared with others. She would have to wait, wait for the discussion between Jaune and their father. Maybe she would finally put some of those stealth skills to use. There was only one thing she was certain of: Jaune was not feeling better. In fact, she had the distinct feeling that things were going to get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was tough! Jaune never really struck me as an angry guy, so I thought having him just lash out at others would be too out of character. However he seems to blame himself a lot. The few times he seems even somewhat angry it seems to me he is angry at himself. I hope that came across well.


	5. Bargaining

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again!
> 
> Thank you for continuing with this story, we have another 2 or three chapters until this is finished, it has become a lot longer than I ever imagined it would be and I'm really happy about it, thank you so much to everyone who has followed, favorited and reviewed.
> 
> Also, I stumbled across an interesting story awhile back called Errand Boy by Shadowyman. It is an AU based in a college where Jaune is basically stuck as the slave of Weiss, Coco and Cinder. It's a lot of fun to read, and much happier than this story, so please give it a try!
> 
> Now on to more Jaune grief and family angst!

Chapter 5: Bargaining

Jeanne and Jacquelyn waited calmly behind a corner. Listening silently to the strange conversation that Jaune was having with their father.

"So, it's all true? The myths, the legends? Those stories you told us as little kids?"

James shook his head. "Most of it is exaggerated or changed dramatically. But there is a nugget of truth in most of them."

"So the Maidens are real? Is magic real too?" Jaune asked. The was wonder in his voice, a hint of hope. Jacquelyn's eyes narrowed as she began to scowl. She didn't know what was going on, Magic? There was no way it existed, it would be able to break all the laws of the universe, and there would be utter chaos if Magic actually existed.

"Yes. Magic does exist." James replied.

"I think dad has had a few too many drinks tonight." Jeanne whispered.

Jacquelyn didn't reply, there was too much she didn't understand, where had Jaune gotten the idea magic existed? He was seventeen, eighteen now actually since his birthday had happened during his time at Beacon. He wasn't a child anymore.

"Pyrrha was supposed to be a maiden, but Cinder killed the previous maiden before the power could be transferred." Jaune said.

Jacquelyn's blood ran cold, why would Jaune be at such an event? Had Jaune broken from reality was his mind making up stories and situations to help him cope? The maidens were a story, nothing more.

"I know, Qrow told me." James said.

"What they hell are they talking about? Do they know we're here? Are they screwing with us?" Jeanne whispered.

It made sense, more than magic existing did anyway. But she thought it was unlikely that Jaune had detected them. Their father she could understand but Jaune wasn't that skilled. At least, she didn't think so.

"I thought he would. He never liked leaving loose ends, or not having a reason for why someone did something." James muttered.

"Back to magic, what kind of magic is there?" Jaune asked.

'Jaune, Don't look into this so much, It is all basically lost, separating myth and fact has become nearly impossible."

'So anything is possible?" Jaune asked.

James stared at his son. The reasons behind these questions finally clicking into place.

'What is he talking about? Even if magic exists how would that help Jaune?" Jeanne whispered.

"He wants to bring Pyrrha back." Jacquelyn said, louder than she had intended.

Jaune spun around "Jacquelyn? Is that you?"

"Great going Jacquelyn, now we're found out." Jeanne groaned walking out into the open. Jacquelyn followed. They looked at their father who was shaking his head in mild disappointment.

"Jaune, what are you planning?" Jacquelyn asked.

Jaune spread his hands out. "You already guessed." He said.

Jeanne stared at him "you want to bring back the dead? That's impossible!"

"So was flight, so was destroying the Grimm, but people learned how to do it. Why can't bringing back the dead be next?"

"Jaune, ignoring the… ethical and moral dilemma of bringing back the dead. How do you know you can even use magic? How do you know that it is even possible, every story I've ever heard about someone trying to bring back the dead ends the same way. They're miserable, even if the do succeed." Jacquelyn pointed out.

"Well, it'll be different."

"Jaune I know this is hard to hear, but Pyrrha is dead she is not coming back. She doesn't even have a body to return to." James said, kicking himself once again for even entertaining the possibility of bringing the dead back to life.

"What about Ruby's friend, Penny? We could get Pyrrha a robotic body the creates aura." Jaune said, his temper rising. Why couldn't his family understand? It was his fault that Pyrrha was dead, his mess to clean up. Finally, he had found a way to undo all of that, to bring back Pyrrha, if only he could find information on it, he would be able to bring back all those killed in vale too! Wasn't that a good thing?

James shook his head. "Would Pyrrha even want that?" He asked.

'How would you know?" Jaune snapped, his temper finally taking over.

"None of you," Jaune said pointing at each one of them in turn "knew her at all! You knew her as the mistral tournament champion, the celebrity, and the invincible girl! None of you knew her like I did!"

"Jaune, would she want this?" Jeanne asked, her posture tensing. She crossed her arms and gave her brother an icy glare, but Jaune didn't back down.

"You never tried to be a hunter! How would you even know what she thought?" He snarled. Jeanne's eyes lit up in surprise at the attack and her glare wavered.

"Jaune, things will never be the same as they were before. But even if you did have the ability, you can't go bringing people back to life." Jacquelyn argued, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Why? Are you afraid it would make hunters inconsequential, because we wouldn't get to save the day anymore? Because saving lives won't be as critical? We won't be the heroes everyone looks up to?"

"No you idiot! Because war wouldn't have any real cost! Violence could be taken back! Life would be without any value!" Jacquelyn snapped, her own temper being let loose.

"You can't go bringing people back because that'll open a Pandora's box! What is to stop people from living forever? From stopping everyone from taking risks, thinking they'll just be brought back? What makes being alive any better than being dead? Hunters won't have value because in the end, no one will try to take care of themselves!" She said, her voice rising.

"Besides, this isn't about other people! This is about you. You sit in you're room and cry like a child! You lash out at your friends and family? I bet Ruby was blaming herself for Pyrrha's death too, but was hoping you would at least understand her pain! Instead you just lash out!"

'Now you want to make all our pain, all our emotions meaningless! You aren't over this Jaune! I get wanting a friend back, but this is absurd! People die, hunters especially, we all face death in our jobs! We see friends get killed! It is part of the job! So, if you want to be a hunter! Grow the hell up, and accept that fact she's dead!"

"Jacquelyn!" James shouted. Jacquelyn stopped talking, her face flush, gasping for air. She looked at Jaune the look of hurt and shock on his face tore at her. She felt her heart sink.

Jaune didn't speak, he had nothing to say. He strode past Jacquelyn, his feet slapping the floor.

"Jaune! Wait!" He heard her cry out. He ignored the call and continued to march forward, ignoring the other cries from his family, the questions lobbed his way. He opened the door to his room before quickly, but quietly closing it. He heard a pair of feet bound up the stairs, He turned and a quiet click indicated to all that he had locked his door. He lifted his scroll gingerly from where it had fallen. The screen was cracked, and the edges of the scroll were twisted and bent. Several dents in the corners were clearly visible. He flicked the scroll on, the screen glowing a dim blue, the color changed due to damage to the screen.

He smiled slightly as he learnt it still worked. A few taps on the phone allowed he to reach the search engine. He grimaced, even if his family wouldn't accept what he was doing was right, he would still do it. Screw them all for their choosing to refuse to help him. Isn't that what family did? They helped each other?

He typed in a one word, expecting dozens of bogus results, but he had time.

"What does searching magic get me?" He wondered as he pressed enter.

Jacquelyn sat knees brought up to her chest. She was still sitting in the kitchen. Jeanne walked up. And sat down next to her. She reached out a hand, hesitating she thought better of it and placed her hand on her own lap. She sat cross-legged.

'Jennie has to leave tomorrow, their giving her a lot of trouble at work for staying away so long. Being a doctor isn't exactly easy you know."

"…"

"Fortunately Janice and Jackie are coming tomorrow. They were both delayed, Jackie needs to get military leave and Janice needed to catch an Airship from Halfway across the world. Working for Vacuo Defense Solutions has its sucky moments I suppose."

"What about you?" Jacquelyn muttered weakly. "There's not much to report on right now. I think I can stay a few more days. Maybe a week or two." Jeanne tried to say nonchalantly, but it didn't come out right.

Jacquelyn looked at Jeanne out of the corner of her eye. Jeanne noticed that they were red from shed tears, and her cheeks were puffy. Anger boiled within her, how dared Jaune make her cry? How dare he hurt is own sister like that? The feeling settled soon after. For all Jaune had said, he was, in some ways right. She didn't know what it was like to be a hunter. If it weren't for Jacquelyn having brought her out on a trip as a favor for a university report, Jeanne wouldn't even know what a Grimm looked like.

"I really screwed up didn't I?"

Jeanne hesitated for a moment. She wrapped an arm around Jacquelyn. "Yep, you done goofed this time." She said in the most countrified voice she could muster. She drew her older sister in closer for a one armed hug.

Jacquelyn looked at her. Her eyes red and her cheeks still puffy, a look of remorse on her face.

"Dad always said my temper would get me in trouble, I didn't expect this though." She said leaning into the hug.

"Jaune's going through something none of us truly get, it make sense that he'll lash out." Jeanne said, she didn't fully believe the words, didn't expect Jaune to act like this, he always did surprise them though.

"Pyrrha loved him." Jacquelyn said. Jeanne stared at her surprise apparent.

"Great scoop huh? Invincible girl falls for clumsy hunter in training." Jacquelyn continued. "She kissed him, shoved him in a locker and then went and got herself killed."

Jeanne took a moment to process that. "It seems Jaune is much more of a ladies man than we expected."

Jacquelyn snorted. "Yeah, but I think he had… well maybe still has, feeling for her too." She sighed. "Worst part is that Jaune thinks the kiss was a trick, made to get him to drop his guard. He feels used and betrayed." She looked down at the ground. "That is something I understand all too well." Jeanne held Jacquelyn closer. The two leaning shoulder to shoulder. Silence dominated the room for a few seconds, before a loud crash snapped them from their trance.

"Jaune?" Their mother called. The two sisters bolted up the stairs, fearing a thousand different things, different possibilities crossing their mind, each worse than the last. They reached Jaune's door in a matter of seconds. Jeanne struggled to open it.

"He's locked the door!" Jeanne gasped.

"Out of the way." Jacquelyn ordered as she braced her shoulder. Jeanne stepped out of the way as Jacquelyn through herself against the door, the wood shattering under the force of her strength and aura.

"Jaune!" She shouted. The room was gloomy and unlit. There was an unearthly blue glow coming from the side of the room. Her eyes, trained to notice such abnormalities glanced at the cracked scroll, Jeaned rushed past her Rushing over to a form curled up by the wall. Confirming Jaune's safety Jacquelyn picked up the scroll. There was a text conversation. Her eyes widened in surprise as she recognized the name.

Glynda Goodwitch, Ozpin's confidant and deputy headmistress of Beacon had been discussing magic with Jaune.

Jaune, necromancy, and other assorted magic for bringing back the dead have been tried for centuries. Most of the knowledge is gone, but from my understanding of the varied laws of magic. Bringing back the aura of the deceased is impossible because the aura disintegrates upon the body's death. Also, the vast majority of human's are incompatible with magic, including all (with some notable exceptions) who have their aura unlocked. Therefore, presuming it Ms. Nikos you wish to revive, I regret to inform you that failure is inevitable, I also think it is a poor way to honor her memory. Please honor her memory by protecting those still living rather than pursuing the dead.

All the best, Glynda Goodwitch

How'd she get this to Jaune? Jacquelyn wondered. At least Glynda was still alive. Jacquelyn made a note to search for her later. But for now, Jaune was the one who mattered. She looked at Jeanne, who returned to look with an expression of worry.

"It's impossible. I can't help her, I failed her again." Jaune whispered, half crying as his body shook and tears poured from his eyes. Jacquelyn walked over and wrapped her arm around Jaune. He pulled the two of them into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry." He repeated over and over. The three of them stayed like that for several hours, their mother and father coming to check on them but Jacquelyn waved them off. They wisely nodded in understanding. Later Jennie came with some drinks and food, She contemplated joining their group hug, but thought better of it, when she found the Jaune was sleeping. Instead she quietly walked over and kissed him on the forehead. Jacquelyn smiled, nodding in approval.

"He needs us, now more than ever." She said. Jennie nodded.

"I should be back in a few days, just need to give the hospital directors a piece of my mind."

Jacquelyn looked at her quizzically, her eyes filled with questions.

"They'll probably ask me to resign, which I will probably do, but they're doctors, sometimes we all need our egos crushed." She said with a smile before walking away.

Jacquelyn looked over at Jeanne and saw that she was asleep. Jacquelyn smiled; she rested her head on her younger brother's shoulder and closed her eyes gently drifting into the land of dreams herself.

She awoke to the sound of screams.

"I'm sorry Pyrrha! I'm sorry!" Jaune screamed, flailing, Jacquelyn awoke with a start. Adrenaline rushed through her veins is she took in the sight of her brother, screaming and flailing, his eyes wide with panic. She pulled him into the tightest hug she could muster.

"It'll be alright Jaune, It'll be alright." She repeated over and over soothingly, Jaune's screams slowly became sobs, and finally whimpers. Jaune slowly drifted back into a restless sleep. Jacquelyn stayed awake, wondering just what was happening to her brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still here? Sensational!
> 
> What do you think? I don't have much experience with the stages of grief so this was not an easy chapter to write. I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless!
> 
> Any advice on how to improve my writing would be appreciated as well!


	6. Depression

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Welcome to the penultimate chapter of Pyrrhic Legacy! While the title of this chapter is depression, hopefully you don't find the chapter too depressing, but in case it is, Please read Jaune's Guilty Pleasure by BananaFoxKayri. It is an amusing story where Jaune is the author of Ninja's of Love but wants to keep it a secret! There are plenty of laughs to be had! Happy reading and thanks for checking out this story!

Depression

Jacquelyn stayed awake the entire night. She couldn't sleep, not after what she had seen. In one night, all of Jaune's hope at seeing Pyrrha again had been crushed.

She didn't know what that felt like, she hadn't had loss like that, but she could imagine that Jaune would need a lot of support, even if he wasn't in the mood to accept it.

By the time the sun cracked through the blinds in Jaune's room, she had already been up for six hours, judging from the time the sun rose in winter around here, she expected it to be around eight o'clock, late rising for her, but Both Jeanne and Jaune were still asleep. She pulled out her phone.

"8:32 eh?" She muttered quietly, consciously avoiding waking her two siblings. She opened the net on her scroll. Typing the keywords "depression, stages of grief" into the search engine she quickly found sources on dealing with it. She clicked on a link. She stood quietly while the page loaded and quietly slipped out of the room, going to the living room to read.

Jaune woke with a start. He glanced out at the window. A small frown adorned his face. He felt numb… _strange_ he thought. He usually felt bright and happy on a sunny day like today. Pyrrha had started to make him run in the morning to help with his stamina. She would run beside him, urging him on "Just a little bit more" she would say.

Jaune clung to the memory, he didn't know exactly why, but it made him feel sad. Was it because he was too slow? Too weak? Not energetic enough? Perhaps if he had pushed himself farther, practiced more, maybe Pyrrha would have given him a chance. Jaune went to stand and felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced to his side, seeing Jeanne open her eyes. She yawned.

"What time is it?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Dunno." Jaune said quietly. He stood "I'm gonna take a shower."

"Okay, but don't take too long." Jeanne replied with a slight nod.

He left, Jeanne stood when she heard the shower start to run, the hiss of water hitting ceramic reminded her that she needed to take a shower too. She shrugged; she'd take on later. Now she just needed to find Jacquelyn. Janice and Jackie were coming today, and they still didn't know what to tell them.

Jeanne strolled out of Jaune's room and walked into the living room. Jacquelyn was curled up on the couch staring intently at her phone.

"What are you reading?" Jeanne asked.

'Stages of Grief, I think Jaune just hit depression."

"Oh… why do you think that? I know he sobbed himself to sleep last night, but it was kind of a stressful day for him."

"He had a nightmare about Pyrrha, he cried half the night. Don't you remember that?"

Jeanne shrugged apologetically, "I don't remember that, things that happen in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep don't usually stick." She tapped her head with her fist to emphasize the point.

Jacquelyn rolled her eyes. "Anyway, there are a lot of problems. We don't know how he'll react, how long it will last, and we're going into this completely blind."

"Not completely." Jeanne pointed out. "We know how dad coped."

Jacquelyn narrowed her eyes. "Yes, but Jaune is a little… young for that."

Jeanne raised her hands defensively, whoa; I was _not_ talking about having kids as a solution, or the various childhood traumas you faced because of dad deciding that was a good solution. I'm just saying that we know what kind of reactions we'll get out of Jaune."

"Still, it took dad _years_ to really get over Rouge. Jaune doesn't have that sort of time." Jacquelyn said.

"Why not?" Jeanne asked, figuring the answer was a hunter thing. She was mildly surprised at Jacquelyn's cryptic answer.

"There's more going on than meets the eye." Jacquelyn said, glaring at the scroll. It beeped as a new message appeared. Jeanne glanced over.

"New message from Ruby Rose?"

'We got in contact after Jaune's… reaction. I was worried a fifteen year old girl would overreact to such a negative response." Noticing Jeanne's eyebrows shooting up in surprise, "If something happened, like if she ran away, I mean." She added quickly. "Jaune would never have forgiven himself."

"Did she?" Jeanne asked relaxing slightly.

"Twelve boxes of cookies in an hour are not all that bad."

Jeanne gagged. What kind of fifteen year old could eat that many cookies anyway?

"She must be _massive_." Jeanne said, getting a glare from Jacquelyn.

"An adorable little fifteen year old actually. I think she and Jaune would make a cute couple."

Jeanne laughed. "Would she get past all of us?" She asked only half joking. Jacquelyn gave her a small smile.

"You never know." She tilted her head, "Has Jaune been in the shower all this time?"

"Probably." Jacquelyn stood, letting the scroll drop onto the couch and quickly climbed the stairs. Jeanne followed.

"Jaune seemed fine, do you think something happened?"

"Just a feeling…" Jacquelyn said.

'Jack! Slow down!" Jeanne exclaimed as Jacquelyn quickly gripped the doorknob to the bathroom.

"Jaune, open up!" She ordered. There was no reply. Jacquelyn panicked, a thousand situations once again running through her head.

'I hear crying." Jeanne said, placing her ear to the door. Jacquelyn leaned in; mimicking her younger sister, there was indeed the sound of crying coming from the bathroom. It was quiet, faint, muffled even more by the wood, but certainly there.

Jeanne put her hand on her older sister. "He needs time to grieve, perhaps he's finally doing that. We should give him some space." Jacquelyn sighed, she didn't like it, but Jeanne was right, smothering him wouldn't help anyone. She stood and quietly wandered back down to the couch, the sound of Jaune crying echoing in her head.

Janice and Jackie's arrival was a quiet affair. They arrived just a little after lunch. Brief hugs with James and Joan, followed by slightly longer ones with their sisters. Lastly they came to their one brother. Janice gave him a long, silent, gentle hug, as if trying to pass an expression of deep sympathy through touch, not daring to say anything, as if that would break whatever veneer of calm remained in the house. Jackie had no such inhibitions, giving her brother a bear hug and twirling around.

'Jauney! It's soooo good to see you!" She exclaimed

Jaune grinned slightly at Jackie's exuberance. It reminded him of Nora, or was it that Nora reminded him of his sister? Well, it didn't matter, he need someone who would break the "funk" as his mother had called it, that he was in.

But he wasn't sure if he was ready to let go.

After what was probably the fifth spin Jaune started to tap his sister furiously.

Jaune went flying through the air as Jackie came to a complete and immediate stop. Crashing into a wall. A warm feeling spread through Jaune, His sister's action reminded him of Nora, and of his team. Of Ren and Nora, and of Pyrrha.

Jaune didn't here the verbal reprimand Jackie was getting, he felt the tear start to flow and felt his heart sink into the depths of despair once again.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune what's wrong?" His mother asked. Jaune didn't respond he curled into a ball as silence fell throughout the house.

"It's about Ms. Nikos isn't it?" Janice asked.

_Can't hide anything from you can I?_ Jaune thought.

"No you can't little brother." Janice said, as if reading his mind.

Jaune gave a weak chuckle. He felt himself be lifted, arms wrapping round him. He looked down to see Jackie lifting him up, her bright blue eyes grinning, her long, messy hair flowing over her shoulders.

"Well, I think it's time for the Boxing Champion and elite lawyer to have their talk with their little brother."

Instead of protesting Jackie got a few nods.

'I thought you lost last weeks match?" Janice noted.

'Yeah, but I wasn't in top form, therefore I'm still the champion!"

_It's like Yang and Nora rolled into one._ Juane thought. The horror of the idea becoming clear. At the same time it was comforting, being surrounded by such optimism.

Jackie plopped him down on his bed, the springs creaking at the sudden increase in weight. She sat down next to him. With Janice leaning against the wall, hand on her hips. Her gaze through her glasses seemed to pierce into the depths of his soul.

"So…." Jackie began scratching her head, trying to search for a good way to begin. "When did you two finally hook up?"

'Jackie!" Janice exclaimed, "We have no knowledge of the two of them hooking up at all!"

Jaune was blushing furiously, Jackie pointed to him. "Only the guilty blush! I bet the started after the dance!"

"You're being insensitive!"

"I am plenty sensitive!"

"She kissed me right before she shoved me in a locker." Jaune said. A sudden silence covered the room.

"That sends some… _really_ mixed signals." Jackie breathed. Her eyes wide. She had meant to tease Jaune, not step on a landmine. He didn't figure Jaune had even gotten as far as kissing the girl. Well, he was a surprise.

"I'm sure she fully expected to explain it later." Janice said awkwardly. She inwardly cursed herself; she could act decisively while staring at a crime scene of a mass murder but not in front of her own brother?

"I don't think she liked me in that way… After the dance I thought maybe, but the Vytal festival was coming up, and I didn't want to mess with the team. I thought after the Vytal festival we could talk about what she meant." Jaune's passive expression contorted into anger. "Then the battle of beacon happened and that idea went to hell."

'There are so many things I regret, I wish we had talked earlier, I liked her, I really did, I'm not sure if it was love, But she was an awesome friend who saw so much in me. I liked Weiss because she was cute and-

"Rejected you?"

"Acted like a bitch?"

"Was a snobby rich girl?"

"Sang well and had an oversized ego?"

"The two grinned at each other. Jaune shook his head gently. I think At first I liked Weiss and did want to date her, but after the dance, she and Neptune kind of hit it off, I pretty much knew it was never going to happen, but for awhile I wanted to try anyway. Dad always said that women love confidence."

'You do know confidence and gall are two different things right?" Jackie muttered.

Janice laughed. "There's a lot to be said about confidence but it's not the only things girls look for. Dad gives bad romance advice. Sometimes intentionally."

They were getting off topic, but who the hell cared? Jaune was smiling, so was Jackie and herself. It was like old times.

Like things were normal, like Jaune hadn't gone to Beacon, like the Vytal festival hadn't happened, like Pyrrha Nikos was still alive.

Pyrrha Nikos was a sobering thought and Janice's face warped from cheerful to a little downcast. Jackie looked up recognizing the face and steeled her eyes.

She clapped her hands together "let's get this shit done!" She said, wrapping an arm around Jaune. Janice sat down on the bed.

"So… Pyrrha." Jackie began. Jaune immediately started to hunch over, his face twisted with pain and regret, he stared at the ground.

"It's hurts a lot doesn't it? Like there is something missing in your soul."

Jaune nodded.

"Dear friends, family, lovers, when you meet them, get to know them, they make an imprint on your soul, losing them, it's like losing a piece of yourself, something has changed so irrevocably that you can't make sense of it."

Jaune nodded again, leaning closer to Jackie. Janice glanced over with a smile.

"It hurts Jaune, and I'll be honest, it doesn't get better for awhile, and then something will remind of them, and those wounds that were healed will be torn right back open, again and again and again."

Jaune looked at her, his eyes full of pain. Janice felt you throat clench, she hated seeing her little brother like this, and she hated seeing anyone be like this. It just, wasn't fair. Jaune shouldn't have lost anybody he cared about yet, especially not to a terrorist. She reached out and wiped the beginnings of tears from his eyes.

"But every time, the pain will go away a little bit faster, it'll hurt a little bit less. The fact that you feel that pain, it's good in a way, it means the people you lost matter to you." She stood and circled around; she crouched down and took Jaune's hands in hers.

"Pyrrha isn't alive anymore, and there is nothing that can bring her back, you can't change the past Jaune, only learn from it. I heard you were blaming yourself, don't, it's the last thing a true friend would want. Move forward with your life, and live it to the fullest." Janice said with a slight smile. It was weak, and was forced. The talk reminded her of one that Jacquelyn had given her, after she had gotten involved with an especially dangerous case, a friend had died.

She only hoped the speech Jacquelyn had given her, and what Janice had added to it (which was quite a bit in this case) would work on their brother as well.

Jaune burst into tears; tears flowed down his checks as Jackie hugged him tightly.

"It'll be alright Jaune, everything will be alright, just give yourself time." She whispered gently.

"I just miss her so much… I just wish there was something I could have done, I just wish it didn't happen." He sobbed.

Janice rose and gave him a hug as well. "We all wish for such things, but that isn't for us to decide. The only thing we can do is choosing what to do with the time we have." She said, she leaned away from Jaune and stared him in the eye.

'This is a challenge, and one Jacquelyn has pointed out the you would eventually have to deal with if you want to be a hunter, I just wish we could help." She hugged him again. The three held the hug for quite some time.

Outside the room unbeknownst to any of them, James and Joan Arc smiled.

'I told you they could handle it." James said smugly.

Joan punched him in the arm, "I know, and I agree that his sisters doing most of the talking would help, but I still think we should have been more active." She said with a grin.

"Buying all their tickets was pretty active." James argued.

"I get the whole, support from the shadows thing, but it goes against all my motherly instincts."

James put an arm around his wife. "Our job as parents is to make sure are kids can grow up into adults, keep them safe when we can, but most importantly, that they can keep moving forward after we're gone."

Joan leaned into her husband's embrace. "That doesn't mean we have to like it."

"No, it does not." James agreed.

Dinner was a pleasantly noisy affair, Jennie had returned and so the entire Arc family was together again. Jeanne and Jennie argued over some new hunter training law, Jacquelyn traded barbs with Jackie about close combat, James and Joan arc kept the young and mischievous twins in check. Jaune and Janice both enjoyed the atmosphere around them; the wildness that was so close to their heart, but in many ways was also so distant from them. Jaune however, took comfort in the fact that his friends, as close to family as they could get, were similarly wild, maybe even more so. A weight still hung on his heart, but it was ever so much lighter than it had been when he arrived. Pyrrha was gone and so was a part of his soul, but perhaps, with time, things would improve. But they wouldn't unless he took that first, ever so important step.

"Can I be excused from the table?" He asked politely.

"Why?" James asked, predicting a dozen lame reasons, and more than a few good ones.

"Well, dinner is finished." Jaune said waving a hand to everyone's empty plates as well as the broken ones in front of the twins. "And, since I'm not on cleanup duty until tomorrow, I was hoping to get a phone call in, and make a long overdue apology."

James nodded, a slight smile on his lips. Jaune grinned back; he left the table and almost bounded to his room. James almost laughed as he ran back down and asked Jacquelyn for her scroll, his was more or less broken.

"Now when is he going to apologize to us?" One of the Twins asked.

James ruffled their hair, "In time, he's mending bridges, just be patient."

"Don't wanna!" They said in unison. James groaned internally, Four kids he got, five kids, okay he wanted a son, but seven? He really needed to stop going out to drink with his team until the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately for him, his wife (and former teammate) could be very persuasive about keeping the memories of their lost comrades alive.

One of the twins leapt of their chair and ran away.

'Rouge! Get your sister!" He exclaimed as they other repeated the same antic.

"Kay dad!" the Twin shouted from down the hallway.

He glanced up at the open door of Jaune's room. Jaune was their profusely apologizing to an image on Jacquelyn's scroll. He smiled warmly. There would be no need for him to stand watch tonight. Jaune would be fine.


	7. Acceptance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter; this has been a fantastic ride. I have loved every minute of it. To those who followed this story as well as those who reviewed it (special thanks to Wasp for edits), I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Don't be sad because it's over, be happy because it happened,

Dr. Seuss

* * *

Final Chapter: Acceptance

"Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I should have said it a long time ago, and I didn't, and I was stupid-"

"Jaune," Ruby said over her scroll, she was smiling, happy her friend wasn't angry at her, "I forgive you, we all went through a hard time, you most of all. It makes sense you'd be angry, I'm just glad your feeling better."

Jaune relaxed a little, a smile spreading over his face "Thanks Ruby." He said, feeling more gratitude than he could ever express. He was worried about how Ruby would be feeling after he lashed out at her, He was glad he had worried for nothing.

"How's Yang?" he asked, knowing that's he was probably going through some fairly similar feelings.

Ruby's smile faded. 'She's still barely eating, and not talking that much, it's worrying."

Jaune forced a large smile on his face. "She'll pull through, you know what she can be like, She gets knocked down she'll get back up and make a dumb pun over it." He said jokingly. Ruby chuckled a little.

"Yeah, you're right, I just wish it would be sooner rather than later."

Jaune nodded, not saying anything.

'So Jaune, are you coming with us to Mistral?" A mixture of concern and excitement appeared on Ruby's face as she asked; she was hopeful, but still scared.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss that for the world." Jaune said, feeling his resolve strengthen as he said the words. He couldn't mope forever; maybe this trip would bring that little bit of closure that he couldn't get here.

And maybe he would also be able to punish Cinder Fall for what she did. Rage started to boil inside Jaune, but he quickly pushed it down, revenge wouldn't bring Pyrrha back, nothing would. He would see Cinder Punished for her crimes but for justice, not for petty revenge. That's what Pyrrha would have wanted.

'Anyway Jaune I have to go!" Ruby said as a beeping noise appeared in the background, "the cookies are done!"

Jaune genuinely smiled, "okay, save some for me for when I get there."

Ruby laughed. "Bye Jaune!"

"Bye Ruby." Ruby hung up, a smile on her face, She sighed, ignoring the smoking wafting into her nostrils. She held her hands close to her chest. "Normal knees…" She stood there for a minute, until the blaring of the fire alarm snapped her out of her trance. "No! The cookies!" She exclaimed speeding off, too late to save the cookies, but maybe in time to save the house.

Jaune sat on his bed, smiling at Jacquelyn's no blank scroll. His thoughts drifted to Pyrrha, and a piercing pain entered his chest, only for a moment. It had been common in the beginning, that piercing pain, and it was still common when he was alone, when it was quiet, when it was dark. Jaune realized the pain was emotional rather than physical. Maybe this was the pain his sister had been talking about, it faded a little more quickly every time, he doubted he would ever stop feeling it, ever lose the feeling of Pyrrha's loss completely, but he could live with it.

He stood and walked back down stairs. His sisters, all seven of them, waited ta the bottom of the staircase, they looked at him expectantly. Jacquelyn had her arms crossed, a smile on her lips.

"Anything to say to us?" She asked, somewhat playfully.

"Sorry for being an jerk for the last couple of weeks." He said sincerely as he walked down the stairs. A not wholly unexpected group hug followed when he reached the bottom. Jaune's heart warmed at the hug. It was tight but not crushing. It was the same feeling he got when he felt Pyrrha's hand on his shoulder, the quiet, but firm support.

'You're not alone." Jacquelyn whispered into his ear, he smiled.

"I know." He said aloud. Cheerful that much had been set right. It would never be the same as before beacon, but that didn't matter so much.

"Movie night!" Jackie exclaimed suddenly, cheers erupted from his sisters. The group moved to the living room, where a fierce debate began over the movie to be watched. Eventually, at rouge's insistence, they watched a short video on Vale's zoo. By the end, everyone but Rouge was snoring quietly in the living room. Janice, Jackie, Jacquelyn and Jaune on the couch, the others sprawled over the floor.

Rouge smiled, happy to have her family back together. She crawled onto Jacquelyn's lap, not noticing Jacquelyn's eyes crack open.

"Night everyone." Rouge whispered before closing her eyes and drifting of to sleep.

Jacquelyn stroked Rouge's hair, a slight smile on her lips. The slow rising and falling of Rouge's chest telling her she had already fallen asleep. She glanced at Juane who was sleeping peacefully. Memories of Jaune's nightmare and subsequent breakdown still had her rattled. But she didn't think it would happen tonight. Stealthily she pulled a marker out of her pocket. And gently sketched a moustache and glasses on her brother's face. She smirked _Jackie isn't the only prankster little brother._ She thought, knowing full well Jackie would be blamed for it. " _Now_ , I forgive you." She said. She then leaned back and closed her eyes, oblivious to the fact that Jackie had been awake the entire time.

Needless to say, Waking up the next morning had been a laugh. Joan had laughed so hard she cried as Jacquelyn walked into the dining room, Of course, it was all in good fun (for they all knew that what had happened to Jacquelyn was revenge in good taste). The fact that Rouge called her a kitty cat was what tipped Jacquelyn off; rushing to the mirror she saw that someone had drawn whiskers on her face. She rolled her eyes.

Jaune didn't have the same problem as she did; He had gotten up early and was outside, training with James Arc. Drenched in sweat, followed by a shower cleaned off most of the magic marker, resulting in Jacquelyn being the butt of everyone's jokes.

" **Cat** elyn, could you pass the salt?" Jaune asked, a grin on his face. Jacquelyn tossed the salt his way."

"I'll have you know Caitlyn is a prestigious name dating back to Early Mistralian royalty." She said more annoyed at the absolutely horrible pun than anything else.

Jaune grinned; Jackie gave him a fist bump. "Welcome to the Pun alliance little bro." She said with a grin.

After breakfast, Jacquelyn went outside to train with Jaune. There was a light frost on the ground not much, it never snowed here, just got a little frosty. The crunch of frost under her feet always reminded her of home. As they began to spar she smiled as she saw how much he improved. He no longer plunged headfirst into combat, preferring to pressure his opponent into giving him an opening. He still would need a lot of work, but nothing three more years at beacon couldn't have taught him. Her thoughts wandered, beacon was overwhelmed, flooded with Grimm, what was he going to do?

She was dragged back to reality with a shield to the face. She tumbled to the ground. Grunting as her shoulder smacked gravel.

"You okay?" Jaune asked worriedly. Jacquelyn nodded.

"Yeah, Just thinking."

"Clearly not about our spar." Jaune chastised gently.

Jacquelyn chuckled as she grabbed Jaune's outstretched arm. She pulled herself up and got into a combat position, preparing for another round. Jaune walked a few paces away and prepared himself.

"So Jaune, What are you going to do?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he lazily swung his sword at her.

Jacquelyn dodged. "I mean, you can't go back to beacon, so you have to go to another academy, what are you planning on doing? A lot of Beacon students are headed to Shade and Atlas." She struck, her blow glancing off of Jaune's shield.

"Nora and Ren are meeting up with Ruby in patch to head to mistral, I'm planning on going with them." He said launching another attack.

"Haven? That's an interesting choice. Do you have friends there?" She parried, taking a few steps back to prepare for another attack.

"Sun and Neptune go to Haven, but no, we're chasing a tip from Ruby's uncle."

Jacquelyn's eyes widened. She struck. "You're planning on chasing those terrorists?"

Jaune blocked. "Something is going on in Mistral, we have a duty to-" He was interrupted by a kick to the gut, He stumbled backwards.

"You're chasing after the people who killed Pyrrha?" Jacquelyn asked, a hint of anger in her voice. She strode up striking with her blade with the force of a hammer.

Jaune tried to parry, only to have his sword knocked out of his hand.

"Yes." He grunted as he backed away, inching closer to his lost weapon.

"Pyrrha died to keep you and the others alive, and you're just going to charge right back in there? You're going to throw away her sacrifice?" Jacquelyn's voice was dripping with anger, her face a mask of fury. She wasn't going to let her brother throw his life away.

She struck again. "Let trained hunters chase Cinder and her allies, Let full fledged hunters deal with that, hell let Atlas deal with that! You learn to be a hunter! Get better!" She shouted as she launched a barrage of kicks and punches at her brother.

"No. Can. Do." Jaune grunted out, using his shield to deflect what he could. He pushed himself forward, slamming his shield into his elder sister. As they both tumbled form the force of Jaune's attack, he used his height and weight to pin her to the ground.

'Pyrrha fought and died for this world, she sacrificed herself for that, Even if she knew she couldn't win, I can't let that go to waste, and the way the kingdoms are right now, nobody else can stop her!" he exclaimed.

"Quite the legacy young your partner left behind." A voice behind them said. They both looked up to see their father smiling at them. He tossed Jacquelyn her phone.

"The journey to Mistral is dangerous, especially on foot." James arc said. He had a platter with coffee on it. Handing a mug to his two children he sat down cross-legged in front of them. He stared at Jaune, his piercing gaze making both Jaune and Jacquelyn quickly sit and straighten their backs.

"We all have our own path to take, as Huntsmen, we must make decisions that are painful or may be contradictory to our own interests. You may even have to lay down our lives, or the lives of our friends for the greater good. This is a lesson all professional hunters and huntresses know well." he sighed "I only wish you could learned that after you got a date." He muttered.

Jacquelyn groaned while Jaune blushed. A laugh was heard form the house.

"Shut up Jackie!" Jacquelyn shouted. James rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"There won't be much time until the snow makes it impossible to get to patch, you'll have to leave tomorrow morning."

"Dad!" Jacquelyn exclaimed. She hadn't expected this.

"So!" His dad said clapping his hands. "Your mother had decided to pull out all the stops! We will have a feast worthy of the Arcs tonight!"

Cheers came from the house as Joan Arc clearly informed the others of the same.

Two hours, three burned turkeys and a bowl of half cooked rice later, all the arcs were once again in the living room, eating pizza by the box.

"I love Arc Feasts, they always mean pizza!" Rouge said happily. Joan arc was sitting in a corner, her husband comforting her.

"I used to be so good at this… where did I go wrong?" She asked near tears

"Shh… maybe next time don't let Jacquelyn cook the chicken…"

"But she loves cooking…"

"At least let Jaune supervise her…"

"Hey! I can cook chicken!" Jacquelyn argued

"You can turn chicken into a toxic substance. If that can be defined as cooking then yes, you can cook chicken." Jennie snarked.

"Says the girl who can't even cook rice." Jeanne pointed out.

"It's complicated using the rice cooker!"

"How? Wash rice, add water, close lid, press button! How much easier can it get?" Jackie asked pretending to be shocked.

"Just… press the button?" Jennie replied sheepishly as she took another slice of pepperoni and olive pizza.

"Why not just get Jaune to do it next time?" Rouge asked watching as her twin played with some toy cars. "Julia, please don't break those, they're mine." She chastised.

Jacquelyn spun around "That is-"

"A great idea!" James said giving his youngest a thumbs-up. "When Jaune returns from Mistral he can cook us a feast!"

Jaune's siblings cheered at the idea, In part because they might actually be able to eat the food, but mostly because they wouldn't have to do any of the cooking.

Jaune smiled. He glanced at the clock. It was eight PM. His flight for patch left in twelve hours.

"Thanks." He whispered. Jeanne nudged him on the shoulder.

"Just come back in one piece." She asked. Jaune nodded. "Promise?" She asked.

"Promise." Jaune agreed. He would come back in one piece. After all, an Arc never went back on their promise.

Jacquelyn listened in on the conversation. She was torn between wanting to protect her brother and letting him grow.

"When you love something set it free." Her father whispered into her ear. Jacquelyn nodded quietly. Jaune's mind was set, she couldn't change it. She made a mental vow to beat him into next week if he didn't come back in one piece and Arc's never went back on their promises.

Fifteen hours, a tearful family goodbye, several embarrassing last-minute hugs and a flight later. Jaune was doing exactly what anyone who knew him would imagine he would be doing. That is, quiet explicitly, puking into a trashcan.

He had somehow muscled his way through the flight without vomiting, but his first action upon arriving in the smallest airport in vale was to run to a trashcan. To add to his problems, the airport was so small it appeared that people had decided accurate signage was unnecessary. Therefore, he was lost. Lost in an airport, which only had four gates.

"There must be a limit to how much of an oblivious idiot I can be…" Jaune moaned as he stood up form the now full trashcan.

Before he could try to ascertain his own whereabouts, or even look for a sign saying exit (which was actually right above him), he heard a fierce cry.

"Fearless leader!" A voice exclaimed as a ginger haired girl plowed into him and wrapped him on a bone-cracking hug.

'Nora! What did we say about bear hugs?' Ren asked, following behind her.

"That they expressed endless love?" Nora guessed.

'And what else?"

"That they could possibly maim or kill a person." Nora chirped, ignoring Jaune's furious tapping motion.

"Which means?"

"I should… let Jaune go?"

"Very good Nora." Ren said nodding sagely.

Nora released Jaune who crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll.

Ren pulled him up, giving him a gentle smile. "Long time no see."

"Hey Ren, Nora, it's been awhile."

"Ready to meet up with Ruby?" Ren asked.

"Yeah." Jaune said. The three turned to go. On instinct, Jaune turned, "let's go Pyrrha!" was what he wanted to say but the words were caught in his mouth. Pyrrha wasn't there to be called out to. Instead there was an airport, with dozens of people milling about, rushing to flights heading towards distant lands.

A pang of sadness coursed through Jaune. He took a deep breath and exhaled. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder.

"Same for you?" Ren asked. Jaune nodded.

"She's still here, in our hearts." Ren said quietly.

"We're her legacy." Jaune replied. In a way it was true, especially for Jaune, She had trained him, inspired him gave him the confidence that he could be a hero.

He just never expected her to be taken away so soon.

"A pyrrhic legacy?" Ren asked. Jaune shook his head. "That's up to us to decide." He turned and looked at a smiling Nora. It wasn't her normal smile. But it was a good smile nonetheless.

"Let's go." He said, heading towards the exit to the airport.

"Jaune!" A voice exclaimed. When he turned he just saw Nora, pointing towards the other end of the airport.

"The exit's that way." She said with a playful grin. Jaune nodded a grin forming on his face. He headed off towards the exit, followed by Nora and Ren.

He paused as he reached the door Plastered to the door was an advertisement. It was old and torn, but the mascot was still very much visible, her emerald eyes smiling as she held a box of Pumpkin Pete's breakfast cereal. His grip on the door handle tightened as he fought tears. The wave of emotion was bearable, but only just.

"Nora, Ren?" He asked quietly.

"Yes?"

"I miss her." He said .

"We all do." Ren whispered. His eyes downcast.

"Yeah." Jaune agreed, before opening the door and walking through, leaving the advertisement behind.

He would miss her, probably forever. She had taken a piece of his soul with her when she died. But for all that had happened, for all the pain, he would never regret meeting her, learning from her, being her partner.

Most of all, he would never regret being her friend.

But those memories would have to be put aside for now; he had another friend who needed his help.

Besides, Ruby promised him cookies.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you believe it's done? I really can't, It took me around half a day to decide on the last few paragraphs. I wanted something light and hopeful, I hope I delivered.
> 
> I've learned a lot writing this, it's been my most viewed, most followed, most favorited story so far, And I'm actually proud of the way it turned out. I still have a long way to go, but I feel like I'm improving as a writer.
> 
> The story was originally just Jaune wandering through the rubble of Beacon and at the end he found out Pyrrha was dead. I'm really glad I didn't go with that. It was also supposed to be a single short story; it expanded a lot since then
> 
> A big shout out to SpectorChris from Fanfiction.net, whose review on The Aftermath pushed me into doing this in a serious manner. He mentioned he hadn't seen a Jaune-centered story dealing with Pyrrha's death, which pushed this to the forefront of my writing list.
> 
> Also, if you have not done so already and you have a little bit of time, please give a review, whether it is just your feelings on the story or constructive criticism, it is all appreciated.
> 
> As my last little challenge instead of me giving you a reading recommendation, Why doesn't everyone give everyone else a recommendation? Please leave a reading recommendation in a review if you have the time.
> 
> Also: I am in need of a beta, If you have any interest, please contact me!
> 
> This is DeamonHunter, thanks for reading!
> 
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> You're still here? Sensational!
> 
> If you have the time, please follow favorite and review!


End file.
